The Will Of Seven
by KitHonoka62
Summary: Sequel to Memoirs of a Missing-nin. On Hiatus Computer Virus Crupted All Story's.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Don't tell me the sky is one shade of falling

~*~

"They're sending me to the frontlines with the rest of seven. I cannot refuse."

His low, cool voice rang through my head like it did every night. Every night the words were different and I still could not discern their meaning. To my knowledge he'd never said anything of the like to me, and I began to wonder if what I was hearing was somehow bits and pieces of a future that I had unknowingly opened a door to. Sometimes there were brief flashes of color with the words; the familiar crimson and black of his eyes in a pattern that I had never seen before, and other times flashes of flaming yellow, orange and black as well as jade green and soft pink. All connected to team seven no doubt, but what it all meant was—at the present—beyond me.

I lay there, my sheets tangled around my legs and my body covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The landlord had yet to fix the damn AC despite the complaints of nearly all the tenants. Cheapskate. I turned my head to face the wall to my left, where a cracked mirror sat and I regarded my reflection.

I hardly even recognized myself anymore. I watched the lean muscle shift beneath my skin as I moved to rise from the bed. Not an inch of fat remained, I still had a semblance of my once, generous, curves, but my body had become tight and hard with muscle courtesy of the wringer I had put it through. It was rather surprising how much easier training was when one was in the proper physical condition for it. My skin had grown a bit darker from constantly being in the sunlight during those harsh months training, it wasn't quite a tan, but it was no longer the translucent pale it had once been. My hair, that I hastily began pulling back into a messy bun, was no longer the deep black it had been for so long. It was now silvery white, a product of the fire spirit's touch. The most drastic change however, was my eyes. They were no longer the eyes of a naive, confused girl thrust into a world she didn't understand. They were now the eyes of a killer, cold and hard with steel and full with the final understanding of what it truly took to survive in this world.

In the beginning I had tried to keep a count of how many I had killed, but once it began to reach into the hundreds, I found it harder and harder to think about. I quickly learned that when it came to being a shinobi, you stop thinking and you just do. And in the division I was in, this wasn't just a saying, it was law. Orders were to be followed without hesitation, no matter how gruesome. The ANBU are a village's most feared weapon, not only because of their elite strength, but because there is no humanity allowed when on a mission, not even towards teammates. The training had been rigorous and it had nearly killed me, but I had made it and my inception into the organization had given me access to invaluable information. Needless to say it made keeping an eye on the village's plans regarding Sasuke much less of a pain in the ass. I had thought it was going to be difficult to track Sasuke, but as of yet, things had been quiet in Sound. I had the knowledge of events that would come to pass for both sides, however what I didn't anticipate was just how spread out the timeline was. It had been a year since I left Sound and Sasuke, and yet no events that I recognized had come to pass aside from Naruto's return to the village. That had been about two months ago however, yet there was no word of the Akatsuki's meddling in Sand.

I had half a mind to swing by and catch a glimpse of Naruto. I felt a jolt of excitement at meeting him, to be honest my special post in the ANBU and the missions over the past few months had drained me emotionally and I held high hope that Naruto's warmth was as infectious as the rumors say. It hasn't only been the missions however, ever since I left I've found my thoughts and dreams invaded by Sasuke more than usual and it was getting exhausting. The Uchiha was on my mind about 90% of the time and it was doing no good. It still hurt to think of him, of what would befall him and the awful truth that he'd have to face. I worked hard at pushing him to the back of my mind in order to focus on the mission at hand, which was at this point to maintain the trust of the village. It had admittedly been quite easy to infiltrate, but I had the aid of a spirit and no one in their right mind would ever question the integrity of the fire spirit, especially not the Hokage. It had proved harder however, to infiltrate the ANBU ranks and it took the better part of about 4 months working as a Jonin before I managed to be promoted to ANBU.

I donned the uniform Jonin black pants and long sleeved shirt and pulled on my boots before heading out. There had been a black hawk perched and pecking at my window this morning, which meant I was needed by Ibiki.

He'd better have a damn good reason for summoning me, it was supposed to be my day off and my kitchen desperately needed to be restocked.

As I walked through the sunlit streets, there seemed to be something in the cool morning air. Citizens and shinobi milled about and buzzed with some kind of news. Judging from the nervous glances at the Hokage tower and the hushed voices, it wasn't something pleasant.

I would have stopped and questioned someone about what was going on, but I figured my summoning to the interrogation HQ was related to whatever it was, so there was no point in wasting my time.

I was mostly ignored as I made my way through the streets with my head lowered and my hands shoved in my pockets. I had originally planned to take my time getting there, but with the vibe I was getting from the villagers, I quickened my pace.

I nodded to the guard at the entrance to main building and strode through the doors, searching for Ibiki's location. I had honed and polished my sensory ability until it gleamed. I could now pinpoint anyone's location as long as they were within 5 kilometers of me. I had never had to locate someone farther than that, so I wasn't sure how far I could actually go. I hadn't really had time to mess with distances.

Ultimately, I found Ibiki in the lower level interrogation rooms, deep in conversation with another ANBU operative. I rapped twice on the door before letting myself in as was customary in this unit.

It seemed as though the conversation had just ended right as I entered, the operative nodded his agreement to whatever he'd been told and vanished.

"Ah Rena," (My cover name) Ibiki said, turning to me, his scarred face grave and a trace of nervous anxiety behind his eyes and pulsating throughout his aura as it buzzed beneath my skin. I found that extremely unsettling…Ibiki never got nervous.

"What's going on, the entire village is on edge and so are you it seems." I remarked, closing the door and leaning against it, my arms folded across my chest.

"I think it's best to wait to explain further until we reach the hospital. However we need you in full Hunter attire. Make sure you aren't seen." He said quickly.

"Hospital? Why would I need to…" I began, but he disappeared before I could finish my sentence. I ground my teeth in irritation. He had a nasty habit of doing that.

I sighed and began to make my way back to the upper levels of the building where I stashed a second uniform. I didn't really have the urge to venture all the way back to my apartment, and from Ibiki's tone and behavior I needed to make haste.

I pondered Ibiki's vague response as I dressed.

Obviously, if he wanted me at the hospital in a uniform I was otherwise never supposed to wear within the village, that meant we had obtained a particularly dangerous ninja. S class most likely, and they had been too injured to be kept in the interrogation unit or the Hokage tower's holding cells. I wondered if it was a member of the Akatsuki, but I dismissed that idea. To my knowledge Konoha hadn't captured any until Jiraiya's battle with Pain. Who else would be important enough to require a hunter-nin as a guard?

I went through my bingo book in my mind as I pulled my hair back into a tight braid and tucked it beneath my collar before sliding the thin black mask—that was similar to a polar wrap in how it covered my head, mouth and nose—over my head.

So far there were no ninja in my bingo book that would have classified as dangerous enough for anything more than a regular ANBU guard; I had taken care of all the high class scumbags. I decided to quit wasting energy trying to figure out who it was and just focused on making sure every patch of skin was covered and my weapons were properly concealed.

The black uniform was tight fitting, but loose enough to make my gender ambiguous. No one could know who I was, or that I even existed. Though I'd be using S class stealth, it was still extremely dangerous to be moving around the village in this uniform. Whoever this was must be pretty dangerous if the higher ups were willing to take the risk.

I shifted the senbon holster that was strapped to my upper arm before finally looking myself over in the mirror and deciding everything was satisfactory. My soft black boots made no noise as I walked back across the room for the final piece of the uniform: a black ANBU mask with no markings besides a thin red border around each of the eye holes.

I secured the mask to my face and headed to hospital, absolutely afire with curiosity over who I was to guard.

~*~

Morino Ibiki was speaking quietly with Hatake Kakashi in front of the closed door of a hospital room when Rena flickered into view beside them.

"Were you followed?" He questioned.

"Was that a joke?" She retorted dryly, her voice muffled on account of the mask.

With a nod and a deep breath, he began to explain the situation and the terrible importance of keeping the individual behind the door from escaping.

~*~  
I stood mute in utter shock. This was the absolute last thing I had ever expected to hear. Ibiki had gotten to the point straight away.

"Uzumaki Naruto has finally succeeded in dragging Uchiha Sasuke back to the village. They beat each other pretty good and the Uchiha is going to be hospitalized for no less than 3 months. Tsunade-sama is keeping an eye on Naruto herself, but we need you to keep watch over the Sasuke not only as a guard, but as a medic. If he makes an attempt at an escape—and no doubt he will—make sure he is not successful by any means necessary. Kill him if you have to, that is the Hokage's orders." He told me, his voice stern.

I was suddenly very glad for my mask, so they couldn't see my bewildered and stricken expression. I clenched my jaw and unable to find my voice, gave a curt nod as my only response.

Both men inclined their heads, Kakashi threw a quick glance at the door and then they were gone.

I still hadn't moved, I was absolutely floored. Why in the hell was Sasuke in the village?! Had he even killed Orochimaru or did he just escape? Why in God's name did he head towards Konoha? He was supposed to go for Suigetsu after he killed the snake bastard, which was in the opposite fucking direction. The moron!

Not only that, but he wasn't supposed to kill Orochimaru until after the whole deal with Gaara and the Akatsuki, the whole fucking timeline was fucked! My knees suddenly went weak as something dawned on me...all of my knowledge was now useless. The future was now as unforeseen as ever. I could now do nothing for Sasuke and Ka had been absent for the past couple of months, doing whatever it is that spirits do, so he was unavailable for questioning.

I was absolutely terrified at what the village elders would do to Sasuke. He was a rogue ninja, loyal to the enemy's side. He was a missing-nin and an S class criminal at the top of every village's bingo book. If it were anyone else, the punishment would be death or life imprisonment. But being that he was an Uchiha, his life would probably be spared, at least I hoped. I also knew that there was no way in hell that Naruto or Sakura would stand for a death sentence. They'd plead for days with Tsunade if they had to and everyone knew she favored the two of them. I'd have to find a way to speak with Sakura. We had worked together during my medic training despite how different it was compared with hers. She had focused on using medical ninjutsu to heal, I had focused on using it to kill or torture, which were two entirely different skill sets. I decided I'd send for her later in the day after the ordeal had had time to fully sink in and I could figure out what the hell I was going to do.

The horrendous shock had died down and I took a deep breath and turned toward the door. I reached out to his presence and felt that familiar smooth sensation that was uniquely his flood across my skin. Despite my hopes, he was awake.

~*~

Sasuke's ribs throbbed with pain where Naruto had rammed a foot into his chest, effectively cracking two ribs and breaking three more. The nurse was supposed to give him something for the pain, but judging from the cold looks she had thrown his way, she had intentionally forgotten and left him to suffer. It was of little import, he'd been through worse. So he resorted to laying there, eyes closed and mind alert.

Moving north had not been part of the plan, but somehow Kabuto had found out about his coup d'tat and intentions for Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo, which resulted in absolute disaster. He had to drop the whole plan and simply focus on getting out of sound alive and without Orochimaru riding around in his skin. No doubt Sound would mount an attack on Konoha, but he planned to be far from the village by the time they found out where he was. Leaf would be the last place they'd look, considering Sasuke's criminal status and the village could be counted to keep its mouth shut for the time being. So the whole thing could just work in his favor if he could keep his head off the chopping block.

He considered just breaking the shackle that chained him to the hospital bed and making a break for it, but that would be idiotic, the village was no doubt on high alert and the walls and gates would be watched very closely.

His thoughts were suddenly broken by the sound of the door sliding open and then sliding shut. Whoever it was made no sound as they entered aside from the door itself and suspicion began to ebb at his stomach. He fought with the idea of keeping his eyes shut, but ultimately decided against it as they had so graciously taken all of his weapons and he was otherwise incapacitated.

When he saw the black clad figure standing by the door, black mask watching him, he groaned internally. Escaping was going to be a giant pain in the ass. They'd assigned a hunter to guard him and he wasn't overtly surprised. He had personally never encountered a hunter from Konoha, but he had heard of them. They were few in number, only about three or four, but they were very good at what they did and most worked as ANBU when not on special missions. Trained in the art of silent killing, they knew the human body better painfully well and they never missed a target.

A hunter was a special kind of assassin, only reserved for A and S class criminals, political figures and targets that an ordinary shinobi could never get to and the weapon a village used when fighting needed to be done dirty. They were sometimes referred to as "faceless men", "nameless ninja" or simply "ghosts" because they always wore unmarked masks and nondescript black clothing that could not be tied to any village. If they were assigned to take out a high ranking official from another village or country, there would be no way to identify or trace the killer to any one village. But the most dangerous thing about hunters, is that they were relentless and once you were a target, they would be after you for as long as it took.

He had never had to fight a hunter, but he'd take down this guard if he had to.

Deciding it was useless to waste anymore thought on his unfortunate companion, he returned his thoughts to his predicament.

Of course he should've been expecting Naruto to find him once he was a few meters from the walls, but it hadn't crossed his mind until he felt the blonde's chakra speeding towards him and it had been too late to run. They had exchanged words and a few choice insults before the fighting began. It had been short but brutal, they only had about five minutes to get some good hits in and break a few bones before the brawl attracted the attention of the village. He hated to admit it, but Naruto was no longer the incompetent idiot he had been and it irked Sasuke that he'd kept up fairly well and managed to break his ribs and shatter his kneecap. However the knowledge that he'd broken Naruto's leg in three places and dislocated his shoulder made him feel a little bit better.

When they'd reached the Hokage's tower he got to experience the infamous wrath of the Godaime Hokage and dodge a potted plant and a stapler before Sakura got there and began scolding Naruto for walking on a broken leg. At first she had been silent as she started to examine Sasuke's ribs and knee, but once she found out how bad the damage was, she began to yell at him as vehemently as she had at Naruto. The blond's expression was pained when Sasuke turned to throw him a glare, but there was a smug smile that dripped with satisfaction on his face and he was positively brimming with giddiness.

Once the Hokage was done cursing at them and their injuries had been healed enough for them to be taken to the hospital, Sasuke was visited by Ibiki. He couldn't remember any of the interrogation itself, but he did remember the man had stuck long acupuncture needles into his throat to disable his vocal cords, apparently so he didn't blow them when he screamed. He figured he'd probably been questioned about Orochimaru and Sound, and considering Ibiki's reputation, he'd gotten the information he wanted. That part didn't bother Sasuke much, Orochimaru could go straight to hell.

All he could do at this point was simply bide his time. There'd most likely be a trial so he'd deal with that first. He fully intended on leaving the village the second the opportunity arose, Itachi still needed to be dealt with and Sasuke was more than displeased that his plans had been set back.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dante crossed his mind. He thought back to their last meeting just over a year ago. She said she'd been headed to Konoha to keep an eye on the village, but he hadn't heard from her and he hadn't made any attempt to contact her. He wondered briefly if she were even in the village. If she was, there was a chance she could help him escape.

At that moment, the door to his room slid open, and Sakura entered, a clipboard in her arms and a startled expression on her face.

"Sasuke-kun…" She began, but stopped short once she noticed the guard. Recognition briefly flashed through her eyes before she nodded to them and turned back to him.

"Sasuke-kun, you're not supposed to be awake, the morphine should've..." She said quietly, glancing down at the clipboard and then walking over to examine the IV.

She made an irritated noise at the back of her throat once she realized the nurse hadn't administered the pain medication.

"I'm going to have to see someone about doing their job right." She muttered, tossing the clipboard on the counter and storming out of the room to retrieve the morphine.

Sasuke had to admit, he was mildly impressed with her. She had grown a backbone and her eyes now looked at him with uncertainty and trace amounts of anger, where before they'd been filled with empty infatuation and not much else. He determined that it was probably a good idea not to make her angry. Once they had been en route to the hospital, she had stopped and turned to face him and he thought she was going to yell some more, but instead she'd launched her fist into his jaw hard enough to knock him from his feet.

"Sakura-chan what was that for!?" Naruto had shouted, stunned.

"You have to ask?" Was her retort before she spun and continued walking in the direction of the hospital, leaving Naruto and the ANBU guards to pick Sasuke up.

The blond had chuckled as he grabbed hold of one's of Sasuke's arms and the ANBU escort took the other.

"I'm surprised she didn't fling you all the way back to Sound. My first day back she hit me so hard I left a trench in the street."

The fact that the former weakest member of team seven was now physically stronger than him was just a tad unsettling.

Sakura returned a few minutes later and injected the medication into the IV before speaking in a hushed tone with the guard.

Sasuke tried to distinguish what they were saying, but the pain killer clouded his mind and pulled him down into a dreamless sleep.

~*~

The shifting sensation of Sasuke's presence slowed as he fell asleep and I was glad for it.

Sakura was one of a small handful of people in the village besides Tsunade who was privy to my identity and so comfortable that no one else would see me, I removed my mask and tied it my belt.

"Well what do you think?" I asked. "Do you know what the elder's will try for?"

Sakura's face bunched up inro an expression of confusion and she shook her head, glancing over at the sleeping prisoner.

"It's too early to say. There's a good chance Danzo will try to sentence him to death, but Tsunade-sama and the other advisors won't let that happen. His bloodline is too important and it would be too dangerous to imprison him. They'll probably put him under some kind of house arrest or probation until they figure out whether or not he's going to be a danger to the village. It's all up in the air right now, no one knows quite what to do." She said, lowering her gaze, her voice softened as she continued.

"No one was expecting this…not so soon, if ever. Of course Naruto's too blinded by happiness that Sasuke-kun's even back that he doesn't really understand the gravity of the situation yet. Sasuke-kun is here against his will, he's completely set on revenge and at some point he's going to leave again. Everyone knows it. That's what's got everyone so dumbfounded about what to do with him."

Sakura took a deep breath and began to massage her temples.

"Is the village aware?" I asked in a low voice.

"No. I mean they know something happened and we brought someone in last night, but they don't know it's him yet. There's no telling how the village is going to react. They're not going to accept him that's for sure. This whole thing is just a mess."

"He's too powerful to be put in prison, his Sharingan is too valuable so we can't kill him. He can't be trusted to be a ninja, and we can't very well just lock him somewhere indefinitely." I said, realizing just how much of a problem this really was.

"Exactly. Can you keep an eye on him?" She questioned, her voice tired. "I don't trust the nurses with him and I've got to go to speak with Tsunade-sama before she has a stress heart attack."

I nodded. "Of course. I know what to do."

She gave me a small smile in thanks and left me alone with my thoughts and a sleeping fugitive that I hadn't the slightest idea what to even make of.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I am a fan of contrast and a lover softness; blending sharp edges into things that look like home.

~*~

It wasn't long before Sasuke realized that it was going to be a very long time before he would be left alone and he kicked himself for cutting it so close to the village in his haste to get as far away from Sound as possible. He most definitely wasn't accustomed to having eyes on him every second of the day and it was constantly putting him on edge. Spending such a long time in sound had drilled paranoia and hyperawareness into him and he was growing to positively ,detest the ever vigilant guard. The fact that the village was having him watched 24/7 wasn't surprising in the least and he suspected things were going to get much harder, but of course that didn't stop him from constantly searching for opportunities of escape. He deduced that it could be worse, they could've thrown him into some rank cell somewhere and left him to rot, but at least he wouldn't have had to share it with a damned guard.

Now that the idiot and Sakura had him and he had a hunter-nin practically attached at his hip, he doubted he wasn't going to get away without claw marks or even at all, but as of yet, Sasuke had never shied from a challenge. It might take a while, years even, but eventually there would be an opportunity and Sasuke would seize it. He positively seethed at the thought of putting off pursing Itachi for a few months much less years and not only that but he'd be betraying the village yet again and he knew that if they caught him a second time they wouldn't be so merciless. Their justice would be swift and precise and no amount of pleading from old teammates would stop his execution. However at this point, Sasuke didn't see any other alternative. He did hope however, that the Akatsuki would make a nuisance of itself by the time he was given mission privileges and he could take care of Itachi without breaking the law for a second time. He was in deep enough as it was.

The sound of Naruto's raucous voice echoed through the hall outside his room and he cursed silently. He didn't really want to deal with the blond, mostly because he had no idea how to even act around him. Naruto's behavior toward him wasn't altered in the slightest, in fact the blond acted as if he'd never even left. He was a bit more excitable at having his friend back, but that was about it and Sasuke despised him for it. He expected the moron to at least be cross or irritable with him or carry on an intense monologue about bonds and friendship. He wanted him to do something besides smile at him all the time and ramble on for hours about things that Sasuke didn't care about in the slightest. He expected some kind of retribution from the blond for abandoning him, but all he got were smiles and stories and playful insults. The boy was a goddamn ray of sunshine and it drove Sasuke mad.

Sakura however, was a different story. Much to his surprise he found he was much more comfortable around her than around the ever-hyper Uzumaki. She almost never smiled in his presence unless Naruto was there, and it was never at him. When he caught her staring at him, her emerald eyes were filled with distrust and slight suspicion, as if she were trying to figure out why he wasn't trying to leave and why he even let Naruto drag him back in the first place. He found out some days after he was back that she was apprenticed to the Hokage and had excelled in medical ninjutsu and (most regrettably) Tsunade's famed Iron Fist. He'd always known she had talent in chakra control and (his pride would never allow for him to say it out loud) was smarter than him. He commended her on her strength, however giving a girl who had a very short and very violent temper the ability to wield inhuman strength was—in his opinion—in very poor taste.

So far the days passed without incident, but Sasuke figured that was much do to his injuries. Once his recuperation was over, he'd probably be grilled mercilessly. He was already on Tsunade's bad side, hell he was on everyone's bad side save for Naruto. For once the idiot's blind faith in him was probably the best thing he had going for him right now. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd have to fully depend on Naruto. Sasuke felt absolutely defeated; he felt like he was going to boil alive in a cauldron of his own humiliation.

Sasuke could hear said boy arguing heatedly with someone in the hall, and judging by blond's voice, there was a lot of jumping around and wild gesturing. He heard his name once or twice, but Naruto was speaking so fast he didn't really bother to try and sort out the words.

There was a firm: "No!" And then Tsunade strode into his room, heels clacking determinedly on the hard floor.

"Come on baa-chan! Where else is he gonna stay?!" Naruto protested, following after her, his face scrunched up in irritation.

"Jail, if you don't get off my ass!" The Hokage snapped, spinning mid step to face him. She jabbed a finger at his chest "Your ludicrous demands are going to do nothing but anger the council and they'll shove his ass in prison with no chance of parole. He's a goddamn rogue ninja and if it weren't for his last name he'd probably be dead already. I've barely managed to convince them to let him stay in the hospital. I'm doing everything I can so stop being a little shit about it!"

Naruto blinked a couple of times, then he lowered his eyes into a pensive expression.

"It's really that bad?" He asked, his voice much lower.

"Probably worse. We're going to have to play this very delicately if we want to avoid a death sentence. The Land of Fire and Konoha takes traitors very seriously. Especially ones who go running off to work for the enemy." Tsunade replied, shooting a very pointed look at Sasuke, who sat calmly listening to their conversation.

She then went over to check the monitor that measured his vitals and lifted a few papers attached to a clipboard on the side before telling him to sit up.

"Does it still hurt to breathe?" She asked, hands roving his bandaged chest, glowing green and then that peculiar probing feeling of her chakra invaded his body.

"No."

She gave him a rather disbelieving look and intentionally jabbed his ribs. She grunted and shook her head when he winced in pain.

"Don't lie, I can't heal you properly if you lie to me. You and the idiot over there are one in the same, you both are stubborn and proud to the point of idiocy. You could be holding your entrails in and you'd insist it was just a flesh wound."

Naruto scoffed at that remark.

"We've got a little more sense than that baa-chan." He grumbled, obviously offended.

"Oh really? When you came home with a shattered femur and swore up and down that you were okay and it was just a "little bruise", that was good sense?"

Naruto scratched at the back of his head nervously and avoided her eyes. "Ah, well…"

"How did you manage to shatter your femur idiot?" Sasuke interjected, he didn't really mean to voice the question out loud, but it was significantly hard to shatter a bone that thick and his curiosity overcame his reserved and indifferent nature.

Tsunade's face took on an amused look and Naruto glared at the both of them.

"Just don't worry about it!" He said, crossing his arms, but Tsunade had other ideas.

"A tree fell on him." She said, a smirk playing at her lips as she eyed her favorite shinobi.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"…A tree? How did…" Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow at Naruto.

"Nevermind." Naruto snapped, cheeks flushed in embarrassment and eyes staring hard at the wall beside him.

Sasuke was silent for exactly three seconds before he practically started convulsing with barely contained, hysterical laughter. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he laughed, but the simple notion of a tree falling on Naruto was just so humiliatingly funny that he couldn't really help himself. That and the pain meds did weird things with his emotions.

"Stop laughing!"

Sasuke's "laughing" turned to grunts of pain as his ribs vehemently protested the action.

"Okay okay." Tsunade said, "Enough of that you're going to make it worse."

"It's your fault dobe." Sasuke said through clenched teeth as he managed to lie back without jarring his ribs too much. "You didn't have to kick me so hard."

"Yeah, well you didn't have to be such a pretentious asshole."

Sasuke shot him a glare for that, mildly surprised that Naruto even knew the meaning of pretentious. Maybe the blond idiot wasn't an idiot anymore.

"Well if you weren't so dense I wouldn't need to be."

"I'm not dense."

"No one is denser than you."

"Yeah well, no one is…more assholic than you!"

Nope. Still an idiot.

"That's not a word."

"That's not the point!"

Sasuke's voice stayed flat and low, but Naruto's went up a notch as the argument continued. He had a scowl on his face, but with the way his blue eyes were twinkling, it was evident that he was enjoying himself immensely.

Jiraiya then poked his head into the room, his expression imploring.

"What's going on in here, I can hear Naruto all the way down the hall."

"The children are playing." Tsunade said in irritated voice as she wrote on her clipboard trying her best to ignore the bickering between the two boys.

"Sensei!" Naruto shouted, a smile engulfing his face as the grizzly bear of a man entered the room.

"So I see my idiot of a student finally dragged you back home huh?" He remarked, looking from Sasuke to Naruto with eyebrows raised. "Probably kicking and screaming eh?"

"Like a little girl throwing a tantrum." Naruto retorted, looking over at Sasuke, who sat glaring at him.

"Don't exaggerate things up dobe." He shot, and then the argument commenced.

~*~

Sakura didn't trust Sasuke, and she knew that he could tell when she felt that reserved gaze on her. It was surprising really, how agreeable he was being. She had honestly expected him to fight and try and leave at the first chance he got, but there had been at least three separate times when he could've made a break for it, yet he had taken none. She highly doubted he wanted to be in the village, but Sasuke was smart, and he knew that trying to break free was certainly not in his best interest when he was facing imprisonment or worse. Sakura didn't think that they'd hand down a death sentence, not for him. She knew that none of the village elders cared for him as a person, but they needed his blood. The Sharingan was just too important to the village to lose. There were only two Uchiha members remaining and Itachi was inaccessible. They'd be harsh with him, perhaps even give him some kind of jail time, but they wouldn't execute him.

She visited him periodically either with Naruto or to check his recovery. His injuries had been extensive, and Sakura figured that the reason Naruto was treating their teammate so well was because he had taken all of his anger out on Sasuke's bones. In her opinion, Naruto hadn't beaten him enough. It sounded harsh, but they couldn't make Sasuke pay for his misdeeds with words, he was too indifferent to anyone but himself so he wouldn't feel bad, but they could make him understand by turning emotional pain into physical pain. It completely eluded her how a boy who was bent on revenge because his brother had betrayed his family, couldn't understand why his two teammates were so hurt by his own betrayal. What really made her blood boil, was the fact that he didn't seem to equate it as the same kind of pain and she wanted to punch his teeth in for it. He could be as dense and oblivious as Naruto, no matter how much he denied it.

When she got the Hokage's office at 3 in the morning, Naruto's injuries were already healing on account of the Kyuubi's chakra but Sasuke's bruises were barely beginning to show vividly and from the look on his face he was in what could only be described as a towering fury. That was probably one of the only times she'd been able to tell what he was feeling. Naruto looked as though he'd barely taken any hits, but Sasuke looked as though he'd been bested thoroughly. At first, she didn't really know what to say so she had scolded Naruto, but ignored Sasuke...that is until she discovered he'd been walking on a shattered patella. Then she shouted and cursed at him with much more intensity than she had at Naruto. She now realized that she hadn't really been screaming at him because of the injury, but because of...everything else he'd done. He had listened quietly while she ranted and swore, his face totally unreadable as always, so she didn't know if her words had made any kind of impact. That's what really drove her mad about Sasuke, she just didn't know when it came to him. That's something that hadn't changed about him. She never knew what he was thinking and she never knew what he was feeling. Whenever she looked at him, she was met with what felt like a towering cement wall thirty feet thick. Naruto's emotions showed clearly all over his face and in his movements, but Sasuke was the complete opposite and she didn't know which one of them was worse.

Whenever Sakura was feeling particularly troubled, she went to Ino.

"I don't even know what to do with him!" Sakura shouted, throwing her arms in air as she paced in front of Ino, who sat on a couch in the hospital break room, patiently enduring Sakura's extravagant rant.

"I mean I really am glad he's back, but I'm just so scared because…"

"He's going to leave again." Ino finished the sentence for her.

At that Sakura stop her pacing and dropped onto the couch, shoulders slumped.

"Yeah." She affirmed quietly.

"Naruto acts like he hasn't realized it, but I think he has, he just doesn't want to face reality yet. He's just so happy and when I think about how destroyed he—we were when that bastard left the first time I just..."

Ino looked at her friend with a sympathetic expression. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose a teammate and get them back after so long, only to know that they're going to leave again.

"Maybe he won't leave. Maybe you can convince him to stay and wait and go after Itachi with the village's okay. You know as well as I do that the Akatsuki are becoming more and more of a threat, and eventually we're going to have eliminate them."

"I don't know…you know how Sasuke is. Besides no one else can touch Itachi." Sakura replied, eyes downcast.

"I heard he was strong but…" Ino began, but Sakura cut her off.

"No," She said with a shake of her head, "That's not what I meant. Itachi is Sasuke's to kill, if anyone takes that away from him…I mean it's all he's lived for the past eight years."

Ino frowned, just like everyone else, a good solution that would benefit everyone was beyond her.

"What does Tsunade-sama think?" She asked

Sakura's eyes were distant as the moon as she looked out the window to observe the children playing in the courtyard.

"She said, and I quote 'I don't know what to fucking do about any of this.'"

Ino chuckled and let out a deep sigh.

"I think the best thing to do right now forehead, is to just do nothing. Let things settle down, let the elders get a hold of their anger. No one can think rationally when they're full of anger and shock. He's an Uchiha, what matters is that they won't kill him. They won't let him off scott-clean either, so it's safe to say they'll decide on something in between."

Sakura turned her head to her oldest friend and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Ino, you're right."

"I know. Now get out of here! Some of us actually have work to do."

~*~

Rena met Sakura on her way up to Sasuke's room.

"Oh," The girl said, evaluating the lack of uniform.

"I was told it was okay to wear normal gear. It's too dangerous for me to be in that uniform for long periods of time, and it's apparent that Sasuke isn't going to try anything."

Sakura nodded in understanding, and pressed the button for floor 3. She noticed that Rena had a troubled look on her face, but nearly all ANBU members had a perpetual troubled expression and normally it was about issues that they couldn't disclose, so Sakura said nothing.

While they made their way up, Rena fought with her nerves. It had been so long, or it felt that way.

She had been informed this morning by the night guard that the Hunter get up was no longer necessary, they just wanted Sasuke to be aware of the kind of security he was under. They had given her the choice to either remain wearing the uniform (but to exercise extreme caution when doing so) or to wear her normal ninja attire which was just a standard issue ANBU uniform. She had chosen to lose the Hunter attire, moving through the village was much easier, but she struggled with whether or not to don the mask.

Was it too early? Should she wait until Sasuke was out of the hospital? She fought with the two questions until the elevator dinged and the doors opened for the third floor.

There was no point in waiting she decided, clipping the mask to her belt and focused getting her scrambled nerves in order before they reached his room.

As they moved down the hall, Rena reached out, and felt the warm, light buzz of Naruto's aura and the similar one belonging to Tsunade. Sasuke's aura was smooth as always, but there was a subtle edge to it, signifying that he was agitated.

The discussion that was going on cut off when they entered the room.

~*~

The Hokage had been talking about the court dates, and Sasuke had been pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the headache that was beginning to form just behind his eyes when the door to the room slid open. There were the footsteps of two people, but he didn't bother opening his eyes, he didn't really care who it was.

"Rena!" Naruto shouted, "Man it's been forever! Since….since…" Naruto said excitedly.

"Since last week." A quiet, reserved voice responded, and Sasuke's eyes flew open. He knew that voice. His eyes snapped to the door.

The girl who Naruto had called Rena stood next to Sakura, clad in an ANBU uniform, pale hair pulled up and hands shoved in her pockets. He almost didn't recognize her. It was Dante, but at the same time, it wasn't.

For one, her appearance had changed drastically. Her skin was darker, almost a golden color. Her hair, which before, had been as black as his, was now a brilliant silvery white and she had that strong, thin physique that only intense training could produce. But there was more than that, her demeanor and air was totally different, instead of the outgoing, exuberant air he knew, she now radiated the kind of calm lethality that all highly trained shinobi emitted. She held herself higher, with more confidence and the way she stood looked casual, but he could see the very subtle taught, alert tensing of someone who had their guard up despite being surrounded by trusted individuals. He suspected that was a result of ANBU training.

The only thing that hadn't changed were the color of her eyes. They were very same golden color that he remembered, but as they moved to his they were filled nothing but flint. As she looked at him, there was no trace of recognition or even relative interest and she quickly moved them back to the speaking Hokage. Either she had been warped by the village, or she didn't want show that she knew him. Sasuke found himself hoping on the latter.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Sasuke felt pangs of surprise.

"The elders want to hold multiple court dates and don't seem to think it's total bullshit." Tsunade said in an exasperated voice as the two girls entered.

Rena had entered the room after Sakura, but avoided looking at Sasuke right away, she couldn't afford to let on that she knew him as anything but a traitor to the village. So she quickly scanned the rest of the room before finally bringing her eyes to him. Luckily he sat up with his eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose, which is what he always did when he was irritated about something.

"Rena!" Naruto shouted, moving to look around Tsunade and throw her a huge smile. "Man it's been forever! Since…since…"

"Since last week." She responded quietly, and though she wasn't looking at him, she didn't miss Sasuke's eyes opening and darting in her direction, clearly recognizing her voice.

She chose then to look at him, but let nothing show through. There was not a flash of recognition or acknowledgement despite the fact that she was exulting inside. She regarded him with disinterest and then moved her eyes to Tsunade.

It felt absolutely wonderful to finally see him and suddenly it felt like she could breathe again. It felt as though she had been sick for so long and her sinuses finally cleared. Being away from him had put a huge weight on her and having him in the same room lifted that weight.

~*~

The battle against the elders regarding the trial went on for days. Tsunade was ready to pull out her hair in frustration, so Naruto and Sakura both avoided her when they could.

As it was getting closer to Sasuke's court date, Sakura decided it was time to get Naruto back on ground level, and it didn't take long before she cornered him at Ichiraku.

"Naruto, I have to talk to you about something." She said, sitting down.

The blond boy turned to her, cheeks full of ramen and eyebrows raised.

"Oh, ey akura-an!"

"Oh swallow your food!" She said, face scrunched up in mild disgust.

Naruto gulped down what was in his mouth and wiped the broth from his chin with his sleeve. She really needed to sit him down and work on his manners…like it would do any good…

"Sorry Sakura-chan. What's up?" He asked, his tone lighthearted.

"It's about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto paused his chopsticks midair, muttered "what about him?" and then continued slurping the noodles.

"I think you know Naruto." She said firmly. "And we need to talk about it. You can't avoid it forever."

The blond sighed and lowered his bit of pork back into the bowl.

"I thought it was gonna be a good night too…" He uttered, looking forlornly down at his bowl.

"Naruto!"

"Okay, okay. This is about the teme leaving again isn't it?"

"Yeah. Are you prepared for it?"

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Yeah. I just…if he leaves I'm gonna go after him and break both his legs. Then I'm gonna drag him right back."

Sakura sighed, she should've guessed as much.

"Naruto, if he leaves again and we bring him back, they'll kill him." She said quietly.

His head shot up and his blue eyes were filled with disbelief.

"No…"

"Yes Naruto. They won't forgive a second offense, Sharingan or no Sharingan. If he defects again, we're going to have to let him go unless we want to watch him die."

Naruto bristled with anger.

"But if the bastard goes after Itachi he could die anyway!"

"Then…" Sakura began, but she found she didn't have a response.

"I'm not saying he will leave, the village is going to keep him under a magnifying glass for god knows how long. I'm just saying we need to be prepared to face reality in case he does."

Naruto grew silent for a moment.

"Stupid laws, stupid Sasuke, stupid clan, stupid fucking Itachi." Naruto cursed under his breath as he dug around in his pockets for money. Finding it, he threw it on the counter and slid off the stool.

"I'm gonna go home Sakura-chan," His voice deflated and distant, "I'll see ya later."

Sakura watched his back before he rounded a corner, shoulders slumped and head bowed. She hated upsetting him, but there wasn't any other way. He had to start thinking about what would happen should their teammate decide to leave again. She started to think that Sasuke's return was causing more pain than anything else.

~*~

Naruto roamed the streets of Konoha aimlessly, mind racing with what Sakura had told him. Although it sounded awful, it did make sense. Forgiveness wasn't typically handed down to traitors the first time around, much less the second and Naruto figured Sasuke knew that too. He also had the feeling that Sasuke didn't really give a shit. Revenge was all the bastard cared about and Naruto knew he'd do whatever it took to get to Itachi, no matter who it hurt.

Naruto shook his head, he just didn't understand it, and so he went looking for someone who might be able to shed some light everything.

He found Kakashi lounging on the rooftop of a bakery with a wheat donut in one hand and his pervy book in the other.

~*~  
Kakashi had fully planned on ignoring his former student when he felt his chakra jump onto the awning beside him, but one look at the kid's haunted expression, and he put his book down.

Before he could even ask what was going on, Naruto dropped down into a cross-legged position and spilled everything. He was completely uncertain about what do concerning their dearly returned teammate and Naruto hated being unsure of anything.

For the first half hour or so, Naruto did all the talking, ranting more like it, and Kakashi just listened. When it was apparent that Naruto wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he resumed reading where he left off.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, stopping mid-rant with a scowl on his face.

"What? I can do two things at once Naruto, if you'll remember the first time we trained together. I'm still listening."

The blond frowned and eyed his teacher's book hatefully, but continued.

"I just don't understand why he's so bent on it. I mean it won't really make anything better, he has to know that, and Itachi could kill him! He could have such a good life here and he's willing to throw it all away. I just don't get it."

Kakashi pursed his lips under his mask.

"A man who has never walked a mile has no real conception of what a mile is." He said cryptically.

"Kakashi-sensei, that doesn't make any sense." Naruto responded irritably, his face clearly showing that the expression went right over his head.

The man sighed heavily and tried a different route. No one ever understood his expressions. He didn't even know why he tried with Naruto at all. Nothing but direct, blunt wording would work with this kid; put any kind of deeper phrasing or roundabout explanations in there and it was like explaining wind theory to a monkey. So he put the book down, sat up and got down to business. This was a monologue that was far overdue.

"Naruto, you didn't have to watch the death of your family by the one person you trusted and loved more than anyone. That's an entire other universe of betrayal that you've had the good fortune to never experience. Sasuke knows that revenge won't bring anything more than fleeting satisfaction and he knows full well what he could have here, but what you two don't seem to realize, is that he doesn't care. Look at this way, Sasuke wants to kill his brother the way that you want to become Hokage. Don't you always say that you'll stop at nothing until you reach that goal?" Kakashi paused expectantly, wanting interaction from his student to make sure he was understanding.

"Yeah of course!"

"Well that's how it is for Sasuke, but perhaps a little more deep seated; you wouldn't kill anyone to be Hokage, but Sasuke wouldn't think twice. You and Sakura are—and have always been—completely selfish when it comes to him. You want him back in the village because you, want it, but have you ever looked at what he wants? Naruto, Sasuke doesn't want the same life that you want and he certainly doesn't want it here. I'm not even sure he knows what he's going to do after he kills Itachi, he probably hasn't even thought about it. To be frank, Sasuke probably doesn't expect to survive the encounter. Your purpose in life is to become Hokage, to nurture and protect the village, his purpose is to kill his brother and that's it, no more. Your teammate has had everything he ever loved ripped away from him by his own brother, so you'll have to forgive him for being a little cold-hearted. You don't understand because you've had a different set of experiences, and you should be glad you don't understand. Sasuke carries a pain that you don't ever want to feel. Like I've always said Naruto, you've got to look underneath the underneath."

Kakashi finished what he had to say, and resumed reading, while keeping Naruto's face in his peripheral vision. The blond was frowning.

"I…." He began, but stopped and frowned again.

"That and Sasuke is an Uchiha." Kakashi added. "They're so sentimental it's almost sickening."

"Sentimental?" Naruto lifted his eyes to his teacher, "Sasuke is not sentimental."

"Oh really? If that's how you feel." Kakashi replied absently, not taking his eye from the book.

Naruto ground his teeth. The last remark was most definitely a dismissal, Kakashi had said everything he had to say on the subject and had decided, as always, to leave the decision making up to him.

"Stupid books." Naruto muttered under his breath before moving to jump from the roof.

A moment after he had jumped out of sight, his blond head popped back up momentarily.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." He said.

The copy ninja saluted in response, and then Naruto was gone. It didn't escape Kakashi that he was headed in the direction of the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The heart is nothing but an organic engine with four chambers; four cylinders pumping frantically to a 2/2 beat

~*~

"So he defended him?!" Sakura shouted at him, her hands on her hips and just a bit outraged.

Naruto had arrived ten minutes earlier to find Sakura already checking in on Sasuke in the early hours just before dawn. He'd quickly explained the nature of his visit and repeated Kakashi's words as best he could from what he could remember.

Sakura thought the both of them were absolutely out of their minds.

"No...he just said that maybe we should look at it from his point of view that's all."

Sakura began to swear.

"So now that we finally have him back you want to let him go!?" She exclaimed, gesturing to Sasuke. "Are you insane?!"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. It went against everything in him to let his friend go, but what Kakashi-sensei had said made too much sense to ignore. It wasn't fair that Sasuke be kept where he didn't want to be, and if Naruto believed in anything, it was being fair.

"I just...I think we should let him decide. It's his life Sakura-chan, not ours. It isn't right to keep him when he doesn't want to be kept."

Sakura glared hard at Naruto. She could see his point. Damn him, he was right.

"But what he's doing, it's illegal."

"I know, but it's not our choice Sakura-chan." Naruto replied in an exasperated tone.

Green eyes searched blue and Naruto quickly averted his gaze. He hated it when she was mad at him.

"Kakashi-sensei says we're being selfish," He continued when she didn't answer. "And that we're only keeping him here because it's what we want. And…I think he's right Sakura-chan."

Sakura slowly inhaled and then exhaled, trying to calm herself down. She turned and sat on the chair by the window, her head in her hands.

She lifted her head to look at the subject of their discussion, who had yet to say anything. His eyes were closed. She took a minute to reflect.

Naruto wanted to let him go. After everything they'd gone through these past two, almost three years. After all the suffering and tears and blood they'd shed for him…and Naruto wanted to let him go. However what he was saying made a lot of sense. Not once had either of them even considered what Sasuke wanted for himself, they'd just missed him so much that it hadn't even crossed their minds. Not to mention how wrong his defection had seemed. But she saw where Naruto was coming from, it wasn't their life and they couldn't keep trying to make his decisions for him. Eventually the both of them would have to come to terms that Sasuke was going to kill his brother, and he was going to leave them to do it. Apparently it was time to do so.

"Well. I suppose we could..." She started, finally giving in.

"No." Sasuke suddenly interjected, eyes narrowed as he looked between the two of them, "No." He repeated, his voice firm.

"What? What do you mean no? You're saying to want to be here?" Naruto asked, hands spread apart, thoroughly confused.

"No, I'm not saying that. But what you two are suggesting is treason."

"You're planning on it anyway." Sakura said under her breath, her tone slightly agitated.

"I'm planning on it alone." He responded.

Sakura clenched her jaw and jumped to her feet, suddenly infuriated at him and his lack of gratitude. Here they were, finally accepting his wishes and blatantly giving him the opportunity to go and he had the audacity to continue to brush them off.

"You—I can't ,ibelieve you! We're finally doing what you've always wanted us to do, we're letting you go and you still can't find it in you…"

"They expect it of me." Sasuke interrupted, voice firm and eyes leveled at his teammate. "If you let me go, or aid my escape in any way, they'll charge the both of you with treason. You're the Hokage's apprentice and he's the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. If you think either of those will help you if we get caught you're wrong. You and I will probably be put to death and he can wave goodbye to being Hokage because he'll rot in prison for aiding a fugitive."

The room was silent. The blood drained from Naruto's face as it grew stricken with fear and Sakura's glare fell.

"Since when do you care what happens to us?" She questioned, breaking the momentary silence.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes then closed them, but didn't answer.

Naruto's face became troubled as something occurred to him.

"How do you know about...him."

Sasuke's eyes opened and shifted to Naruto, whose hand was absently on his stomach and his head was lowered.

"It." Sakura corrected.

"No. Him. He was shoved inside me, I should know."

Sakura scoffed, but didn't say anything else.

"I can see it." Was Sasuke's response, eyes swirling from black to red as they observed Naruto's stomach. "And I can feel it. Its chakra's bitter and…"

"Like aluminum between your teeth." Came a voice from the shadows.

All attention snapped to Rena as she moved silently from where she'd been listening, garbed in the normal Jonin uniform, sans the vest and sleeves pushed up to the elbows. Her waist-length hair was piled into a hasty up-do, a few pieces falling around her face. Her golden eyes were hard as she assessed the three of them with crossed arms.

Naruto and Sakura immediately stiffened. Rena, though a friend, was a member of the ANBU. She was a hunter-nin and a part of Tsunade's personal guard at times. If there were any plot to free a prisoner, she'd be obligated to report it directly to Tsunade. They were officially screwed.

"How…how long were you there?" Sakura breathed, barely able to get the words out.

"Long enough."

"When…we didn't even hear you and you weren't here when I…"

"It doesn't matter. It would appear Sasuke is the only one in this room with good sense." She replied. "It would've been utterly idiotic to try and free him. For one, you know how tight the security around the village has been, if you'd managed to even get passed the walls, you wouldn't have made it five kilometers before you were overtaken. Two, you know what my orders are should he try to escape, and they extend to anyone helping him. If you had gone ahead with your little plan things would've gotten very…unpleasant. I can guarantee you wouldn't have wanted to be brought back to the village alive. The rumors around the torture unit are not over-exaggerated in the slightest and they have no qualms about torturing their own." Her tone was unforgiving and her words were blunt.

"Naruto I can understand, but I thought you were smarter than that Sakura." She added.

Sakura's expression grew pained and she lowered her eyes in shame.

"You're going to report us aren't you? I mean we were just…we were…" Naruto stumbled, face ashen.

Rena looked from him to Sasuke, finally signifying that she recognized him. Something flashed behind those deep black eyes that she couldn't quite read, but it almost looked like contempt.

"No." Sasuke responded for her, running a hand through his hair. "She won't say anything."

Sakura sharply turned to him.

"But she's ANBU, it's law and…" Her eyes widened and then narrowed as she looked back and forth between the two of them, "you know each other."

"I used to be a Sound operative. I reported directly to Sasuke. He was my mentor to be exact." Rena explained, almost absently like it didn't really matter and Sasuke's eyes darted to her, surprised she'd revealed the truth so openly.

Sakura gaped openly, having been rendered speechless and Naruto's jaw was around the region of the floor.

"You…" Naruto chocked out, making strangled noises for several seconds as he tried to form a coherent sentence.

After a few minutes he sputtered: "You're a SPY?!"

"No. Well yes, but not anymore. My loyalties had been to Sasuke alone. I held nothing but contempt for the rest of Sound. When he returned here, there was no longer any reason to continue my initial mission."

"Which was what?" Sakura asked, acid in her voice.

"I was to keep an eye on you and Naruto and do whatever I could to make sure you didn't interfere with him."

Naruto suddenly laughed. "Looks like you failed."

"No." Rena snapped at him, "He wasn't supposed to return to the village. This isn't how anything was supposed to go at all."

Sasuke's eyes widened at that remark, "You mean you didn't foresee this?"

"No." She replied. "This is all wrong. Nothing is happening how it's supposed to. You were supposed to kill Orochimaru and then go for Suigetsu. The Akatsuki were supposed to attack Suna before that even happened and that hasn't occurred. I mean thank god, but still. All of my knowledge is totally useless. I can't be sure of anything now."

Suspicion had been ebbing at Sasuke ever since he'd first seen Dante. His eyes were hard as he stared at his one and only student.

"I left Sound because Kabuto somehow became aware of my plans." He said in a low voice, "I had no choice but to get out as fast as I could before security would be too hard to break through."

Rena's gold eyes lifted to his, narrowed. "You think I told him?"

"You were the only other person who knew, Dante." He replied, his eyes full of anger and the implication that she had betrayed him.

Naruto's eyebrow quirked at that odd name, but he didn't say anything. The air had suddenly grown very tense and he felt it would probably be a good idea to just ask later when the room wasn't filled with cold hostility.

Naruto took a few steps away from his pale-haired friend as her jaw clenched and the air around her became charged with something he couldn't define.

Rena's eyes flashed and she took a breath to say something, but no words came out as she struggled to keep herself together. ANBU operatives were always so calm and collected even in the face of the most pressing and grotesque situations that it bordered on inhuman. So knowing this, Naruto felt the cold tingle of fear make its way down his spine and he fought with the urge to run as her anger mounted and her fists tightened.

She released her breath and her words finally came out low and thick with fury.

"I risked everything for you. I don't think you understand just what I had to go through to get into this damned position. I've killed countless people, done terrible, awful things in the name of this village. I've had to kill children since I've been here and it haunts me every second of the day. I very nearly killed myself training so that I could have the strength to do what needed to be done here; to do whatever it took to ensure that your goal was achieved you stupid, self-righteous bastard. I was even prepared to die for you and now you accuse me of betrayal? Well you and your accusations can go straight to hell."

And with that, Rena spun and strode from the room, slamming the door so hard, Naruto winced for the frame. He realized at that point, that he'd been trembling slightly and made a mental note to never piss off the white-haired girl. He found he didn't ever want to be on the receiving end of that temper if it ever went flying off the hinges.

Sakura's eyebrows were raised and she heard Naruto whistle low before turning to his dark-haired teammate.

"Boy you really fucked up." He said with a shake of his head.

There was an odd look on his friend's face which Naruto recognized as guilt, but it quickly disappeared, leaving Naruto questioning if he'd even seen it at all.

~*~

Two days later, Sasuke stood in the middle of a dim courtroom, the stern faces of the village council looking down on him.

They had been formal and robotic the entire time that they were speaking to him, and he'd barely been given a chance to speak for himself. It didn't really bother him, he was pleading guilty after all. At the time he'd known precisely what he was doing and that it was against the law, he just didn't really care. He hadn't tried to defend himself, he figured the best thing to do was to just accept the consequences because he wasn't going to be able to do much about it anyway.

Ultimately they sentenced him to six months house arrest, three years' probation and it would be Tsunade's choice whether or not to bestow him mission privileges if he exhibited good behavior. When they had read off that part Sasuke had blinked in surprised because it was Danzo who suggested it. Sasuke had interacted with the deplorable old git on numerous occasions after the death of his family and he wasn't fond of him to put it lightly. The Hokage had looked at the man with outright suspicion written all over her face. It wasn't in Danzo's character to be generous, and whenever Shimura Danzo did anything out of character you could be sure there some kind of ulterior motive. He was sure that the man would be watched very carefully.

Tsunade had finally managed to hammer into their heads that more than one court date would be completely pointless and overall the trial only took about an hour since they'd had ample time to think about what they were going to do with him. It was decided that the finer details such as where he was going to live and how necessities were going to be provided (since he was going to be unemployed until further notice) would be ironed out later by Tsunade. Everyone had been collectively surprised that the council was giving the Hokage so much leeway instead of trying to go over her head, but no one complained. Tsunade however, took the whole thing with a grain of salt, she figured there was reason for it, and she would need to keep her ears and eyes wide open. There was something going on, the three old bags had taken her completely by surprise and she didn't like it when they acted out of character.

Naruto had a huge grin on his face when Sasuke and Tsunade emerged from the courtroom, Sakura looked relieved and Rena was in full ANBU attire, so the mask deterred him from getting any indication on how she felt. Judging from the fact that she hadn't turned his way when he walked out, he had the feeling that she was still mad at him and he hadn't made any of sort of apology…yet. He was working up to it, saying sorry wasn't really something he did.

There had been an agreement between the four of them that what had been talked about two days prior would never be mentioned. Sasuke managed to convince his teammates to keep their mouths shut about Rena's once nefarious intentions and they'd only agreed because they knew that her loyalties had gradually shifted from Sasuke to Konoha, though no one voiced it out loud. He hadn't yet figured out how he felt about that.

"That went well." Sakura said to her master as she emerged.

"About as well as I had expected." Tsunade replied. She turned to face Sasuke who was still in shackles.

"You'll be guarded at your home 24/7 by ANBU so get used to company, they'll also accompany you anywhere you need to go. Keep in mind that I'm putting my top operatives on this and you'll be down and out before you can blink if you pull any shit. I don't really see the reason for house arrest if you've got a guard, but any slip ups and I'll make sure you spend your house arrest in the dungeons upside down, clear? If you leave the apartment take extra care to make sure you aren't seen, I don't need the elders giving me grief any more than you do. Don't make me regret the slack I'm giving you kid." She said firmly.

Sasuke nodded his understanding and the man named Yamato moved to undo the shackles. He massaged his bruised wrists, trying to get the feeling back.

"Go to the hospital and get your affects then come directly to the tower so we can set up living arrangements."

~*~

It had been difficult to find an apartment for Sasuke, as no one wanted to rent to him. Considering his past deeds, this wasn't surprising.

"As you can probably already tell, the villagers and other shinobi are going to give you a lot of hell." Tsunade said after she'd finally had to order the landlord to rent out the apartment, to which he (after demanding triple the rent) begrudgingly obliged.

"I figured." Was his short reply.

The apartment was small, but clean. It was mainly comprised of three rooms, a tiny kitchen that was open to the main living area, a bedroom and a bathroom that only had a shower. Sasuke had no complaints.

"Tsunade-shishou, what about furniture?" Sakura asked, moving across the living room to lift the blinds and peer out the window.

The Hokage began to grumble. "Nh. I hadn't thought about that…"

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke said, he already had all the furniture he needed.

Tsunade was about to ask just where he was going to get furniture, but Naruto's voice interrupted her.

"So Kakashi-sensei? Rena-chan's nicer, she's the only one who doesn't call me an idiot."

The two men walked in with Rena close behind.

"Not seeing the obvious is a failing of hers." Kakashi replied once they were in the room, and the girl threw him a hard look.

Both Kakashi and Rena were in ANBU uniforms but without the armor and arm guards which usually meant they weren't off, but had duties to attend to around the village. They both stood in a kind of lazy stance, hands in stuffed in their pockets. Sasuke realized that's what was so familiar about the way Rena carried herself, it was the same as his old teacher did. Quite frankly, it bothered him.

"I take it the negotiations went well?" Tsunade asked the two.

"Tch. He wanted to give around 1000 ryo, which was ridiculous. I told him no less than five thousand, of course he refused. I had to threaten him. I got what I wanted in the end." Rena replied, moving to take a slip of paper out of her pocket and hand it to Tsunade.

After they'd discussed the finer elements of Sasuke's sentence earlier that day, Tsunade had sent the two pale-haired ninja off to the Humanities and Welfare Division to discuss how much money they'd permit Sasuke for food and other necessities a month.

"You always do. It's unwholesome." Kakashi muttered absently. His remark earned him another hard look. Which he promptly ignored.

"You're walking on thin ice Kakashi." Tsunade warned.

The man only shrugged, "I'm always walking on thin ice, it gives my life a certain zest."

Obviously, Rena and Kakashi were acquainted, probably even friends from the way he was speaking to her. Sasuke briefly wondered how they knew each other.

"Oh by the way, I still need your report from the last mission."

"I gave it to you," Kakashi retorted.

"I need a real report Hatake, not this 'we beat the bad guys' nonsense." She told him, taking on an authoritive tone.

"I'll get around to it." Kakashi said with a shrug.

He grunted and turned to give Rena a confused look when she jabbed an elbow into his ribs.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing at the spot where she'd assailed him.

Sakura frowned at her old sensei, he obviously didn't care who he was speaking to. He was perhaps the only ninja in the village who didn't fear getting punished for insubordination. Probably because he was the only ninja in the village who could get away with it.

"Thin ice Kakashi!" Tsunade growled, jabbing an index finger at him and then strode from the room, needing to get away from the copy ninja before she accidentally broke the infuriating man.

Kakashi and Rena then gave nods to team seven and Rena said something about being back later for guard duty before they turned and began heading toward the door.

"For a supposedly intelligent man, you sure do blunder a lot. Why do you always insist on irritating her? She takes it out on me." Rena's voice floated from down the hall.

"I think you ruptured my lung." Kakashi responded bitterly.

"Oh shut up." Came Rena's faint reply, but the rest of their conversation was lost as they moved out of earshot.

Sasuke watched the door a bit longer after they'd left, his expression speculative and then turned to his teammates.

"How do they know each other?" He asked quietly.

"Rena and Kakashi-sensei? Oh they're on the same squad, that and it was Kakashi-sensei who trained her when she first became ANBU." Sakura answered matter-of-factly.

"You forgot something Sakura-chan." Naruto added, his tone devious and an impish grin on his face.

"They've got the hots fer each other." He said, emitting a small giggle.

Sakura rolled her eyes skyward. "Oh no they don't, stop listening to rumors Naruto."

"They've got a thing going on, I know it. Kakashi-sensei treats her different."

"That's because they're on the same team."

"No it's not."

"Naruto, it's against the rules for ANBU operatives to date each other."

"Rules shmules. Since when does Kakashi-sensei give a damn about the rules?"

"Since…come on Naruto. It's Kakashi-sensei we're talking about here, he doesn't have a romantic bone in his body."

"Oh I'm sure Rena-chan could inspire one."

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, shooting him a dreadful glare for his lewd remark, but the blond only laughed and let it drop.

Sakura's glare was faltering a bit as she tried to keep from laughing. It was a pretty good joke, but she had entirely too much propriety to laugh at something like that.

Sasuke listened to their argument with a sour look on his face. The idea of Rena dating Kakashi was absolutely ludicrous, he didn't have a good reason why just yet, but it was totally out of the question. He told himself quite firmly that the flare in stomach was not jealousy.

"Isn't he in his thirties?" He asked without really meaning to.

"Kakashi-sensei? No, I think he's twenty-eight or twenty-nine." Sakura responded, standing in front the stove, testing the gas levels.

"You'll have to be careful with this stove Sasuke-kun, the gas is a little strong and if you're not cautious you could blow the whole place." She relayed, changing the subject. Talking about their sensei's personal life made her little bit uncomfortable.

Sasuke lifted his eyes to her at the use of the 'kun'. He wasn't sure if she had used it second-handedly or deliberately. From the small smile she'd given him as she turned to make sure he'd heard her, he realized it was an apology.

He nodded his understanding and conveyed through a look, that he also accepted her apology.

"So what were you gonna do about furniture?" Naruto asked, looking around the barren room.

"I was hoping I could ask you two for a favor concerning that before the guard comes back." Was Sasuke's response.

~*~

Tsunade paced angrily, chewing on a fingernail. Jiraiya sat slumped in her chair, tossing a paper ball into the air while the tawny-haired Hokage vented her frustration.

"I wasn't sure where he was going to get any of it but I didn't expect him to go back there." She said.

It had come to her attention via Naruto that they'd just finished moving a few pieces of old furniture into Sasuke's apartment from the Uchiha compound.

"Well it is his property, he is the Uchiha heir after all." Jiraiya retorted. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it."

Tsunade spun around, scowling at him.

"That's not the point Jiraiya. I don't want him around that place, the kid's got enough ghosts as it is, he doesn't need any reminders."

"Did you ask Naruto if he was acting tense?"

"Of course he was acting tense, it was probably the first time he'd been there since he was found in the street surrounded by his dead relatives."

"Well what are you going to do? Make him take it all back?"

Tsunade let out an annoyed snort, but didn't say anything. It was done and there was nothing she could do about it, however she would need to have words with the brat. His first day out of the hospital and he breaks into the Uchiha compound. He wasn't off to a very good start. She just hoped they weren't seen, the elders breathing down her neck was the last thing she needed.

"Move." She ordered, giving Jiraiya's leg a kick to get him out of her chair.

"What have you been able to find out in Rain?" She asked, changing the subject.

Jiraiya's expression became very serious as he responded. "It doesn't seem like they're moving just yet. If they are it's totally underground. But I was able to find out what they're after. You're not going to like it."

Her eyes only narrowed and she laced her fingers in front of her face, awaiting explanation.

"They're going to start hunting soon, and the game is Jinchuuriki." Jiraiya said, his voice very grave.

Tsunade's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Who told you that?"

"Rena. She's really very good Tsunade, you should have her work under Ibiki. She's tends to get a bit carried away, but that can be fixed."

"No, I need her right where she is right now. I don't trust anyone else to watch the Uchiha brat." Tsunade stated, bringing her thumbnail to her mouth in contemplation. "Did she say who her source was?"

"No, but good spies never do. We're going to need to get word to the Kazekage about this, since he's the Ichibi's vessel. If they're really planning to go after Jinchuuriki, Suna needs to be on high alert. We need to do something about them before they start raising all kinds of hell."

"What do you suggest? We have no idea where they are, who they are or where their orders come from. All we can do right now is get word to all the villages we know of who've got Jinchuuriki and keep a very close eye on Naruto. I'll make sure he doesn't leave the village without either you or Kakashi."

Jiraiya nodded, he didn't like it, but it was all they could do for now. His brow furrowed as an idea began to form.

"You know…" He said, "We may not know who all of the Akatsuki members are, but we know who one of them is."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes even farther. "What are you suggesting?"

"Uchiha Itachi is the only known member at this point, and the only person who has enough gall to get to him is…"

"No." Tsunade interrupted with a shake of her head,

"I haven't even finished explaining Tsunade."

"I know what you're getting at and the answer is no."

"You're not being realistic about this. The kid is going to go after him anyway, we all know it, it's just a matter of when and he's going to do it permission be damned. We may as well use him."

"Jiraiya, Sasuke won't bother with capturing him, you send him after Itachi and he'll kill him despite any orders I give him. He's too hot-headed and nave right now. It's too early." She replied.

"It's also the best lead we've got." Jiraiya reminded her, disappointment showing through his tone.

"Besides," Tsunade continued, "He's not strong enough yet, Itachi will hang his guts on a fence and…"

Their attention was averted as the door to the office abruptly burst open and an operative from the cypher corps rushed in, his expression rattled.

"Hokage-sama, we've just got a message from Suna, the Kazekage's been abducted!"

~*~

Rena practically flew across the rooftops in the direction of Sasuke's apartment, her mind racing with the news she had just gotten. It had started, the Akatsuki had started moving and were now in possession of the Kazekage. She cursed silently as she moved. She should've said something to Jiraiya about the Akatsuki's motives sooner, but it couldn't be helped.

As she came within a few meters of his apartment window, she teleported inside, there wasn't any time for knocking or formalities.

Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Yamato all turned to her in surprise as she flickered into view in the center of the living room.

"You're all wanted at the Hokage's tower now." She said in loud, firm voice, and then she flickered again and started heading back towards the tower.

It was perhaps about five seconds later that she felt them all moving behind her.

It took a grand total of about three minutes to reach Tsunade's office and they all entered without bothering to knock.

The Hokage sat behind her desk with an expression of terrible determination and anger on her face. The information had come too late and the Akatsuki had abducted an ally Kage. This was an extremely sensitive situation. She didn't really want to send Team Seven, but they were the best she had at her disposal, all other teams were on other missions. That and if anyone would be successful in retrieving Gaara, it would be Naruto. She knew the blond would have an aneurism if he weren't sent.

It hadn't been hard to get the advisors to go along with letting Team Seven go, but they practically started frothing at the mouth when she mentioned that Sasuke would need to accompany them. It was only with the promise that Kakashi and Rena would both be present and that there was no other capable team that they finally gave. She needed Rena on this, no one besides Naruto and Sakura worked smoother with Kakashi and Yamato was going to be busy with another matter so she had no other choice but to have the Uchiha go along. It would be a good chance to test his intentions.

Just as she was about to start, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke. Summoned under the most urgent methods and he was still late. Good-for-nothing.

"I need you all to be ready to leave in an hour's time. I'm assigning you a mission."

The lot of them aside from Rena and Kakashi started at that, as they were already informed of the dire situation.

"A mission? But isn't Sasuke-kun…" Sakura began, throwing her teammate a glance.

"The Kazekage has been abducted from Suna and we need both Rena and Kakashi on this mission. I don't have any other choice but to send Sasuke and we don't have time to discuss it. Be ready in an hour and move out." Tsunade interrupted, her tone final, but she stopped Sasuke before he could leave.

"You stay."

He let Naruto leave before he shut the door to the office and turned to face her, Kakashi and Rena both in full ANBU uniforms looked imposing as they stood on either side of her.

"I trust you understand what will happen should you try anything." She said in a low voice. "I have given both Kakashi and Rena orders to kill you if so much as try to break formation. If you get word or sight of Itachi, you are not to go after him alone is that understood?"

Something flickered in her eyes after she had said 'alone' and he realized instantly that she was trying to tell him something that she couldn't convey outright per the chance that someone else was listening. She raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded curtly, giving her the message that he understood completely.

~*~

The mood was somber as the three of them, gathered later at the front gate. Surprisingly, Kakashi was already there, having changed into his Jonin uniform.

Rena arrived a few minutes later and relieved the temporary ANBU guards that had accompanied Sasuke while she prepared for the mission. Her attire was simple, and nondescript black. She dressed for stealth and no other purpose.

"Before we head out, I'd like to go over a few things." She said, and they all gathered around in a tight circle.

"The men who've taken the Kazekage are extremely strong and not to be underestimated. It wasn't by any stroke of luck that they managed to nab Suna's kage. They're smart and they never make the mistake of underestimating an opponent. The one who did the actual abducting is called Deidara, he's a rogue from Stone and he specializes in explosives, Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke will handle him when the time comes since doton is weak against raiton. The other is Sasori of Suna, you may have heard his name, he's a puppet master and he's stronger and smarter than Deidara. Sakura, Naruto and I will handle him."

"If he's stronger shouldn't you and Kakashi-sensei take care of him?" Naruto asked.

"No. Somebody needs to watch Sasuke and Deidara is too powerful for you, Sakura or Sasuke to handle yourselves and I don't have raiton affinity. I know all of Sasori's tricks, so it'll make it a little easier."

Naruto and the rest of them nodded in agreement of the plan, and then they moved into the trees to begin the three day trek to Suna.

~*~

As they moved along, Naruto began to get uneasy at the heavy silence. Gaara had been taken from his village by people who meant to harm him and that made his blood boil in anger. He still didn't fully understand what had happened, however he needed to keep a level head. He moved past Sakura to run alongside Rena.

"How do you know so much about the enemy?" Naruto asked.

She turned to him, a bit taken aback by his question.

"It's my job to know." She replied simply, returning her gaze forward.

Naruto's expression betrayed that he was dreadfully disappointed by her answer, he wanted to hear something more exciting.

Rena, noticing this, sighed and continued.

"A hunter-nin is more than just an assassin. We also gather intelligence when we can. We double as spies if you will. I was assigned to gather as much information on Akatsuki that I could when possible. Fortunately, thanks to a certain ability that I've got, it was very easy to access that information. I just hope it's correct."

"What ability is that?" Naruto asked, afire with curiosity.

She sent him a sly smile, "well that Naruto, is absolutely classified."

~*~

They encountered no obstacles the rest of the trip and they reached the Hidden Sand within two and half days' time, and by the time the walls came into view, Naruto's mood had deteriorated completely after it was explained to him just what the Akatsuki were after. The Uzumaki practically shook with barely contained fury.

The walls around Konoha were high to be sure, but the tiered walls that protected Suna were positively colossal. Rena found it hard to believe that a human beings could even build something so huge.

They were met at the village gates and were immediately informed of a certain situation and taken to the hospital where Kankuro was being ravaged by Sasori's poison.

Once they reached his hospital room, the rest of the team stood aside and Sakura took control immediately.

Within an hour she'd been able to extract the poison and was now pored over chemical and herb charts, and periodically looking into a microscope at a sample of poison. There were beads of sweat on her forehead as she exerted her full concentration on finding an antidote for the seemingly cure-less poison.

An older woman stood beside her, testing antidotes. She was shorter than Sakura, garbed in a simple robe and sandals as was the custom in Suna, and wore her hair in a small bun atop her head. Rena recognized her instantly as Chiyo before she'd attacked Kakashi, and she watched the older lady with a great sadness as she pondered what would befall the tiny woman.

"It just isn't possible Sakura." Chiyo, shaking her head after the latest antidote hadn't worked.

Sakura slammed her fist down on the table. "I'm sure it can be done. I'm missing something…"

"Sakura please, not so hard, this is mahogany." Chiyo chided absently, rubbing at the table.

Her teammates watched Sakura in wonder, none of them had ever seen her while she was in her prime. The pure effort and heart she put into her work was astonishing and the incredible determination and drive she had to break the poison down and find an antidote was uplifting. Not one of them doubted her.

Naruto was seated on a bench across the room, Sasuke stood gazing out the window tugging at the sleeve of his under armor and Kakashi stood beside Rena where she leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets.

"I'm not even sure Tsunade could find an antidote to that poison." He said, picturing the complicated chart he'd glanced at.

"Sakura can do it. I know for an absolute fact that she can." Rena replied, eyes still on Sakura and Chiyo as they worked.

Kakashi shot her a side long glance and arched his eyebrow. He had been the sole person she'd confided in about her unusual clairvoyant ability aside from Sasuke and, after a time, about how she hadn't been entirely honest about where her loyalties had been affixed. It had surprised and frankly impressed him that someone had been able to infiltrate the village so deeply and work their way into upper echelons of the village military ranks. If Rena had been any kind of serious spy, she could've wreaked some terrible havoc. He saw immediately why Jiraiya wanted her in the Interrogation Unit so desperately. If she'd been able to get an esteemed position in Konoha's ANBU, she could have to potential to single-handedly bring an entire village to its knees.

It had taken a good amount of fast talking to convince him that her loyalties now lay totally with Konoha…well, fast talking and a yes to dinner. When you find out that your protg was actually a spy from Sound and had enough intelligence and personal strength to worm her way into the highest ranks in the village's most tightly guarded faction, the only logical thing to do was ask her out to dinner. He would've given anything to be able to snap a picture of her face when he'd told her his one condition to sworn secrecy would be a date (he hadn't called it that of course, but it was implied). This girl had managed to impress someone who was quite notoriously, un-impressible. The last time he remembered being interested in a woman was…well never.

Kakashi was pulled from his musings when finally, Sakura shouted in triumph and threw her fist into the air when her latest concoction proved true.

Chiyo looked at the pink-haired girl in pure awe. "Well look at that," She said, "Tsunade-hime finally managed to do something worthwhile for once."

Sakura was too excited about breaking the poison's code to think of a waspish response to Chiyo's comment against her master.

She quickly mixed the antidote with water and administered it to Kankuro, and within minutes the color began to return to his face and his pained expression faded.

"I'll need to make some more of this just in case…" Sakura said more to herself than anyone else, and returned to mixing herbs while the others moved to be briefed by Baki now that the immediate danger to Kankuro's life was past.

"As you probably already know, the idiot went after them alone." The man said in his deep voice, eyes shifting to Kankuro. "It's a miracle you got here when you did, any later and…" He shuddered.

"Well we're glad we go here in time." Kakashi responded. "Now about the men who took the Kazekage, what direction did they head in?"

~*~

Rena and the others met a short time later outside of the hospital, readying to head out after Gaara. She noticed that Naruto had been unceremoniously quiet the entire time since they'd entered the village, and she kept an eye on him. She knew it took nearly everything the blond had not go running off alone, impatient to get started. The news that his friend and fellow Jinchuuriki had been abducted expressly for the purpose of extracting the bijuu he carried within him had rocked Naruto down to his core. He had constantly battled with two things since he was old enough to understand why he had been hated so much: if his value lay in his own personal strength and drive, or in being the vessel for nine-tailed fox. Was he Uzumaki Naruto, or was he the dreaded Kyuubi?

So when Gaara became Kazekage, it had given the blond hope that even though he carried a monster within him, he himself was not a monster. It was harder however, for him to come to terms with the fact that he would always be a Jinchuuriki, that he could lose control of the Kyuubi's chakra and that he and everyone around him would never be free from that danger. With that knowledge, he began to feel the first pangs of doubt about being able to become Hokage. Would the village really let someone who could potentially lose control of a force that could destroy the entire village and everyone in it? Would they be able to put their trust in him or would their fear of what resided within him overshadow who he was? The fact that Gaara had been able to excel to the highest rank in the village proved that it was possible for a jinchuuriki, but he also knew that Suna looked at Gaara in a different light. They were a sterner village, and they looked at Gaara's condition as a means of power, not as a threat; Konoha was different in that aspect.

Rena could read all that through the slightly agonized and stricken look on his face and the aura that buzzed across her skin at his proximity. Normally, when she allowed, his aura burst across her skin with radiance and warmth but now it had dimmed and held a keen edge of anger that felt like tiny needles undulating over every pore.

"It won't make a difference you know." Rena told him silently, wanting to do everything she could to make him feel better. Naruto was one of those people whose emotions and presence was so strong that it influenced everyone around him, most of the time without him or anyone else noticing it. So when he was down, it felt as if the sun had gone cold and everyone felt that chill.

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned with a quizzical look.

"Being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki won't matter when it comes time to decide on a new Hokage. You're not the nine tailed fox, you're Uzumaki Naruto and we believe in you not what's sealed inside you. Besides you can learn to control the Kyuubi."

"How…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kakashi finally emerged from the building with Baki in tow and Chiyo ascended from the roof of the hospital in a theatrical show of defiance that totally fit her.

Soon after, they headed out in pursuit of Gaara and his abductors.

~*~

The first night they made camp in a rock outcropping, rain pattering down in a steady drizzle on the rocks around them while a small fire blazed in the cave they were holed up in.

Rena stood at the entrance to the small cave, looking out at the rain, her eyes distant. Naruto moved to go and speak to her, but Kakashi stopped him.

"I wouldn't Naruto." He said.

The blond turned around, his cloak flaring around his ankles. "Why not?"

"She's searching."

"Searching? For who?" Sakura intervened.

"The enemy of course."

Naruto turned his head back to Rena, who was obviously completely focused on what she was doing and wasn't hearing their conversation.

"How is she searching? She's just looking out at the rain." He said.

"She's a sensor, a very special one." Kakashi replied, realizing he now had the full attention of everyone around the fire.

"A chakra sensor?" Chiyo questioned while she massaged the cramps out of her calves.

"No. She can sense chakra about as well as any ninja, what she senses is much more sensitive and it can't be masked..."

Before Kakashi could continue, Rena suddenly jumped and then moved to grab her kunai holster.

"I've found them" She said hastily. "And I can catch up. Somehow, they haven't reached their destination yet."

Everyone moved to their feet, readying to leave, but Rena spoke again.

"I'm going alone. I can reach them, but none of you besides Kakashi would be able to keep up with the kind of speed that I'll need to use."

"That's ridiculous! Of course we'll be going!" Naruto protested, his voice echoing through the cave.

"No you won't, you'll stay right here for another couple hours and rest and then you'll follow my trail. I know Deidara and Sasori's abilities intimately and I can prevent them from reaching their destination, at least for a while. If you all come along they'll sense us long before we can reach them in time. I'll keep their attention and you all can move in and ambush them when you reach us. If we do it this way, we may be able to save more than one life." She said sternly, golden eyes boring into Naruto, signifying that her mind was made up.

Naruto frowned and turned to Kakashi, whose face was unreadable as he pondered Rena's words.

"You could be killed." He said quietly.

"I accepted that when I became a ninja Kakashi, just like the rest of us. If it means retrieving the Kazekage before they can extract the Ichibi, than I will gladly die. Not only will it save Gaara-sama but it will be a tremendous blow to the Akatsuki. They need to extract the bijuu in order. But I can only get to them in time if I move alone."

Finally, after a tense moment of hesitation, Kakashi finally nodded his approval.

Rena inclined her head and moved to leave the cave, but Kakashi lightly touched her arm stopping her a few feet from the entrance. He knew the Akatsuki's power, he knew it was idiotic going after one of them alone, much less two and he knew that this was likely to be the last time he'd see his teammate alive. But he also knew how strong Rena was and what she was doing would save the Kazekage's life. But the fact remained, yes she was strong, but she could not prevail against two Akatsuki members alone.

He knew that the others, save for Chiyo (as he could tell by the grave, saddened look on her face) didn't yet realize just exactly what Rena was doing. He had said that she 'could' be killed so he could avoid any more protests from the rest of team seven. But the in reality—and he could see it in her eyes that she knew it too—she would be killed, and probably horribly.

This was a suicide mission.

His heart filled with an incredible sadness and an incredible admiration at this girl who knew that if she went after these two ninja, she'd was headed straight toward death and she was going to do it without a second thought. That was the nature of a true shinobi and the steel she held was the nature of a true ANBU operative.

"Be careful. They're dangerous." He finally said, and moved so that his back was fully against the other four in the room, and slid his fingers beneath the edge of his mask and pulled it down, wanting to convey in expression what he could not with words.

Rena read it all immediately, how he felt and how deeply sorry he was at not acting sooner and she closed her eyes lowered her head.

"So am I." She replied, after he'd replaced his mask. Answering not only what he voiced out loud, but what he did not.

"I know, but there are some things you won't do. They don't feel that kind of restraint."

Rena's eyes tightened as they narrowed. "There's very little that I won't do."

Sasuke had been watching with a blank expression and, noting how cold her voice had gotten, was taken back to when she'd gone off on him that day in the hospital and mentioned she'd killed children. He felt guilt rise up as he watched Kakashi search her eyes. It was at that point that he realized she had lost something very precious in her mission to aid him: her humanity.

His stomach was gripped with sudden stab of guilt as he realized he'd never apologized.

There was another moment of silence before Rena turned her eyes to the rest of them, lingering for a bit on Sasuke before nodding again and disappearing out into the rain.

~*~

I don't want to pretend that I'm stronger for it all. I don't want to pretend that the sadness is gone. Because I want to know that I'm steady on my feet. I don't want to pretend, so peace will be real with me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say "come and see."

~*~  
The silence was heavy and the air was thick with sorrow. While Naruto and Sakura's expressions were melancholy, Sasuke's eyes were steely as they observed the rain, and his jaw was clenched as he bit back his anger. After Kakashi had explained the somber nature of Rena's personally assigned mission, Sasuke had moved from the group to stand alone near the entrance where the rain still drizzled down. All of a sudden it seemed very appropriate.

"So there's no chance at all?" Sakura asked in a small voice, breaking the silence.

"There's always a chance Sakura, but in our profession, it almost never works out in our favor to bet on chance, especially in the face of these kinds of odds. I'm in no way doubting Rena's ability, but from the intel she gave, she's going to be fighting two ninja who have almost unfathomable power and much more experience. It only took one of them to incapacitate a kage in the middle of his village, so you can imagine why I don't hold any high hopes."

"Then why did you let her go." Sasuke demanded in a growl from where he stood with his back to them. He wasn't sure if he was angrier at himself for not realizing sooner what Rena had headed out to do, or at Kakashi for even allowing it. Especially if what Naruto had said about the man having feelings for her was true.

"Because this mission must be accomplished, even if the cost is the life of a comrade." Kakashi said solemnly, eyeing his obviously angry student with a somber expression. "You should know that."

"But Kakashi-sensei, don't you…well…er…" Naruto commented, scratching his neck nervously and a slight blush coloring his cheeks "Like Rena-chan? You know…like…"

Sakura grabbed a hold of Naruto's ear and yanked before he could finish his sentence. "Naruto that's none of your business" She said in a harsh whisper.

"We're on a mission." Kakashi replied, seemingly unperturbed at Naruto's question. "Personal feelings must be set aside. It doesn't matter how I feel, what she is doing is what's best for the mission and if I could have done it, I would've gone in her place. However she is the only one who can pinpoint exactly where they are and get there fast enough to bar them. If we're lucky we'll get there before…" He left it hanging.

"What did she mean by you're the only one who couple keep up with her speed? I mean we can all move just as fast as you." Sakura asked.

"No, you can't, and I doubt I could move as fast as her either." Was his reply.

He received quizzical looks from his squad, so he elaborated without being asked.

"Rena had started asking a lot of questions about Minato-sensei a while back and doing research into his personal abilities. I found out she had been looking into his Hiraishin jutsu and decided to help her. I had pretty solid doubts that she would even understand the basic foundation of the jutsu. Every time I had tried to read the records on how he modified and developed the jutsu I wasn't able to understand any of it, and I'm smarter than Shikamaru. The only others besides sensei who could use it were his personal guard and it took the three of them together to build the chakra and strength to do it successfully. Now, it's a well known fact that the Iron Fist requires near perfect chakra control right Sakura?"

The girl nodded quickly and motioned for him to continue.

"In comparison to the level of chakra precision and timing the Hiraishin requires, Iron Fist is child's play. No offense. Anyway, in addition to the chakra control, one also has to master what Minato-sensei called "Hypervelocity" which is for all intensive purposes just incredible speed. The body has to be trained to move at extremely high speeds and endure intensely strong G-forces before it can successfully move through the space-time barrier without coming apart. That is why Rena had to go alone. She's mastered Hypervelocity. How in the universe she even comprehended all the incredible complexities Minato-sensei described enough to apply them, I'll never fully understand. I figure it has to do with the kind of awareness she has of the world and everything in it. Minato-sensei had the ability to sense others in the same way that she can, so that gives her an advantage."

"If she doesn't sense chakra, what is it that she can sense? What else is there?" Chiyo asked, her tone skeptical.

Kakashi cast his gaze downward to observe the flames.

"I don't know all the details, but from what I understand she can feel their life-energy, and it extends beyond humans. If it's alive, she can feel it. Our theory is that it has to do with nature chakra; I believe that's what she's able to sense, as it flows through everything. Anyway, that's the reason she's so strong, she can never be ambushed or blind-sided. She can be five kilometers from a building and know exactly how many people are in it and where they are. She's provided detailed layouts of enemy hideouts and bunkers and in some instances, without ever needing to cross the border. If she'd been able to master Minato-sensei's jutsu, I really do believe she'd have the potential to become as powerful as he was, perhaps even more so."

Sasuke had turned to lean against the cool wall of the cave while Kakashi was talking. From what the man was saying, Rena was invaluable and with her death, the village would be losing a great asset. She had the potential to master a jutsu that was considered quite strongly to be impossible for anyone but the Fourth to use.

Orochimaru had been looking into the Hiraishin jutsu when Sasuke had entered Sound, but it proved to be beyond even his understanding, which (much to everyone's secret delight and Orochimaru's chagrin) positively infuriated the man. He didn't like the idea of a jutsu that he couldn't master and he'd been obsessed with it since.

Sasuke was suddenly very glad he'd let Dante leave Sound. There's no telling what the snake bastard would've done to her if he'd ever figured out she could master the Yondaime's Hiraishin. He may have even gone so far as to start rethinking who his next vessel would've been. Sasuke shuddered at the thought.

The Sharingan was powerful to be sure, but the Hiraishin was considered a "god-like" jutsu. He had even heard that during the third great ninja war, the enemy had given flee-on-sight orders for its one and only user. Namikaze Minato was considered one of the most powerful ninja in known history. He had surpassed the Sannin, his predecessor and Sasuke felt that he probably would've been stronger than even Itachi had he lived. It turned out the only thing strong enough to kill him was the sealing of a Bijuu. That's probably why so many peace treaties were proposed when he became Hokage. Everyone was afraid of him. Naruto just might have had some competition later on if they all made it back alive.

His thought's returning to Rena, he found he was totally uncertain how to feel about anything anymore. From the way she had sounded when she'd spoken to him after she'd left Sound, it seemed as though she'd been completely devoted to him. She had even said outright that she loved him. Something had changed in the year that they'd been apart. When he pictured the girl who'd been thrust forcibly upon him all those months ago and he thought about the girl who walked into that hospital room a year later, he could barely even make the connection that they were the same person. Dante had been warm where Rena was cold. Those eyes had once been luminous and dazzling like liquid gold and now, when they weren't sharp and calculating, they were almost lifeless. She had the same dead, haunted eyes of every ANBU member he could remembering seeing the face of. He even caught the same look in Kakashi's eye occasionally.

"What is it like being in the ANBU." He asked solemnly, not bothering to turn. He wanted to know the kinds of things Dante'd had to face. He wanted to know the price that she'd paid for him.

There was a second of silence before Kakashi's voice rang through the cave.

"Working for the ANBU, we become subject to all manner of atrocities. We have to kill, torture and maim without hesitation or reason when ordered to. Sometimes we even have to sacrifice our own or ourselves for the sake of the mission. Shinobi are a village's tools, but ANBU are its weapons and we have to act as such."

"That's fucking terrible." Naruto grumbled, throwing a glare at his sensei.

"I didn't make the world." Kakashi replied.

Sasuke could see Naruto's fists were tightened where they rested on his knees and the blond was shaking, presumably with anger. He saw his teammate bear his teeth before he leaped to his feet.

"We can't just sit around and let her die!" He shouted. "She's our friend!"

Kakashi moved to respond, but Sasuke spoke before he could.

"He's right. If she really is the only one who can master the Fourth's jutsu, it's idiotic to sacrifice her. Her abilities are too valuable to the village too just forgo. The Kazekage is important too, but we'll just need to figure something else out. If we leave now we may be able to at least arrive before the battle has gone on too long."

Everyone was silent. Kakashi closed his eyes.

"I want to believe that we'll be able to save both of them but that is not the reality here. If we go now and the Akatsuki members sense us before Rena can intercept them, the Kazekage will be lost. If we wait as Rena wanted, we won't get there before they kill her. You're asking me to decide between the Kazekage and my comrade."

Naruto made an irritated noise at the back of throat and gripped his cloak in anger.

"Those who break the rules are scum! But those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum! You're the one who taught me that Kakashi-sensei! Are you telling me you're gonna go back on those words!? I don't give a shit about odds or chances. We're going to save them both." He exclaimed, his tone firm and his eyes full of unwavering conviction.

Kakashi looked up at his student in mild surprise. His mind flashed back to when Obito had spoken those same words all those years ago. He had been fully prepared to abandon Rin for the sake of the mission, but Obito had refused. Minato's voice suddenly rang through his head.

"Rules aren't everything Kakashi. It's true that it's our duty as ninja to abide by the rules, but we also have a duty to protect our friends. Remember, no matter what you're told in the ANBU, we are still men and we are still human. This is something that many shinobi have struggled with as long as we have existed. Do we follow the rules, or do we follow our hearts? Can we weigh the lives of our friends against the success of the mission? That's exactly what Sakumo-san fought with and he decided that the lives of his friends were more important than achieving the mission and I would have done the same. However, not everyone understands that ideology, not everyone values their comrade's lives the way we do. To some, a ninja is expendable; it's his duty to die if he's ordered to. In their eyes, he's nothing but a tool for the village to use, a faceless pawn. But to me, that ninja has a name and friends and family that are waiting for him to come home. Every day I have to order one to die for the sake of many and that decision is never an easy one. I'm not telling you to break the rules, but I want you to see the difference between what is right and what is right. The mark of true understanding is the ability to look underneath the underneath. Do you understand Kakashi?"

Minato had spoken those words to him a week before they'd set out on the mission to Kannabi Bridge. He'd only wished desperately that'd he'd paid heed. He wished it didn't take a friend's death to show him exactly what Minato-sensei was talking about.

He thought about Rena. The way her hair almost seemed to glow in the sunlight, the love for ramen that she always denied, the way she smiled when she knew she'd beaten him, that self-satisfied smirk when she got to say 'I-told-you-so' and the incredible dedication she had to her job. In his eyes, she was the best of Konoha's hunters. However, she never once defied orders or sacrificed a mission to save the life of her comrades. She had always held that mantra that the village's orders were absolute and not to be questioned. She had been like he had, followed the rules to the letter. However she had been a spy and any rebellion could've brought that little detail to light. He knew it had been excruciating for her having to watch teammates die and having to order them to die; having to kill and torture men, women and children. He knew she could feel their pain as her own in her very being, the physical as well as the emotional. However he knew that she had gained the ability to turn the curious skill off at will and eventually she grew indifferent to the violence. But he also knew that her humanity hadn't totally been reft from her. Despite the rumors about her being cold and ruthless—while in fact true— were not totally so. From the way her eyes alighted with passion and life when she was training or researching a new jutsu, especially the Hiraishin and the excitement she exuded when she figured out she could master it had proved, at least to him, that her heart had not become totally encompassed with steel.

He ardently respected and admired her for the unshakable resolve she held for both her normal missions and the clandestine mission and her innate determination to never give up. She was in a way, like Naruto in that aspect. He had seen the girl train and fight until she was right on the brink of death and then she would still get up and fight.

He remembered there had been a particularly nasty assignment in the mountains around the border of Mist and Sound. The shinobi of Otogakure had been developing biological weapons for Mist and Kakashi's elite squad was assigned to destroy the weapons. Normally, the mission would've been handled by Jonin or even a talented Chuunin squadron, as the knowledge of the manufacture of these weapons was reasonably known by all the nations, however the difference in this case was that these weapons, while developed by scientists, were going to be distributed en masse by children and the killing of children did not sit well with most Jonin or Chuunin and so the burden was handed to the ANBU.

In the beginning, Rena had not understood why they couldn't just detain the children instead of killing them. As it turned out, the developers of the weapon had foreseen opposition against their plot and they decided not to just plant the weapon on the children, but to infect them with it and spread it by means of contagion. And so, there being no cure for the strain, the children all had to be exterminated. What made matters even grimmer, was that the weapon was a certain strain of rabies that while being incredibly contagious, also drove those inflicted by it into a state violent madness. So the children had fought with terrible ferociousness and the majority of them died in unspeakably violent ways during those skirmishes.

At the time of assignment, Rena had not been in the ANBU long and she had yet to really see the kinds of dark, macabre things that ANBU operatives are forced to do. At first, it seemed like a fairly cut-and-dry assignment, find the weapons and destroy them and that's why he had requested she come along. The method of just how they were going to spread this weapon hadn't come to light until the squad had actually arrived in Sound and the gravity of what they were going to have to do weighed heavy on all of them. It was ultimately decided that there was no other way around it and so Kakashi's squad had grimly marched to do what had to be done. Rena had shown confusion and shock at hearing the grisly orders received from the Hokage, but she made no protests to it. During the search for the last remaining children, Rena had been off a ways from the others and had been ambushed by a brigade shinobi that had come to try and save as many of the infected kids as they could. At the time he didn't think she could handle such a staggering number of men alone and the others in the squad were too tied up in taking the children down that they couldn't immediately come to her aid.

When Kakashi had finally arrived, his stomach gripped with a cold fear that she was dead, he found the surrounding area littered with bodies and Rena locked in a contest of strength with a titan of a man who had driven a medium sized dagger with a hooked edge through her thigh and was now trying to shove a similar dagger into her throat while yanking quite hard on the one in her thigh. In the split second before he recovered his bearings and began to move in to help, the man momentarily won and the dagger slid to break her skin. Blood began to pour and Rena had gone very stiff. Thinking he'd won, the man had let her go and stepped back. Rena fell to her knees and as she did so, in a split-second, fluid movement, darted her hand into her kunai holster and drove the weapon into the man's stomach. There had been that sickening wet ripping sound and she drove the blade upward, tearing through the man's flesh.

As Kakashi and moved to deal the killing blow and help Rena, three children came careening around the corner, their screams shrill and insane. Kakashi begged her not to move, but the minute he began to fight, so did she, all while holding her hand to her throat to staunch the bleeding. Her movements were sluggish and lacking in their usual lethal accuracy due to heavy blood loss, but she still fought. She was dying, the dagger was still jammed through her thigh and her femur was almost certainly broken and yet she fought. It had been at that precise moment, when Kakashi's outlook on this strange young woman had changed.

He sighed, he couldn't let her die. If she was going out than he was going to go with her.

"Alright," He said, standing. "Let's move. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

~*~

A thunderous explosion rocked the ground to her left, the sound was deafening and rubble and splintered wood flew in all directions. Rena quickly moved out of the vicinity. She kept moving toward the faint pulse of Sasori's being with Deidara hot on her heels, and medium-sized explosions going off periodically behind her as she moved. The man was high above her atop a clay dragon rambling on about art. She didn't need to look back to gather his position, she could feel him well enough, and she could also feel when he moved to release another set of bombs so evading them was a bit easier. However they came so fast, it made her advantage nearly meaningless.

"I see you've been busy." A familiar voice echoed through her head. "Akatsuki huh? Didn't I teach you to pick your fights better than this?"

"Where have you been?" She responded, her tone sharp.

"Oh here and there. I really think you ought to retreat Jin, they are beyond you. You may be able to defeat Deidara but Sasori is a different matter."

"I don't have a choice. They've got the Kazekage and I have to stall them until Kakashi and the others can get here."

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. It's very noble, but don't let that cloud your good sense. Do not forgo your life Jin, no matter the reason" Ka said sternly. "You still have some very important things to do. I didn't go through all the trouble of bringing you here for you to die fighting these two blundering idiots. There is something bigger than the Akatsuki at work here."

"Bigger than the Akatsuki, what does that mean?"

"You remember those fellows who abducted you a while back?"

Rena shuddered at the memory. The men clad from head to toe in skin tight, black suits and blank headbands tied around their heads. A chill ran down her spine as she remembered the cold evil they had emanated.

"The organ traffickers? I thought they weren't anything more than that and that they were only hired by Loren to kidnap me."

"On the contrary, they are much more than that and that man is not what he seems. They are the ones ultimately responsible for that awful plague in Oto and even that atrocity pales in comparison to what they have planned. They are moving swiftly toward the Event Horizon to their holy goal of Singularity. You must prevent that at all costs. Do not die Jin, or else the repercussions will be disastrous."

"Wha…Singularity, Event Horizon? None of that makes any sense shishou."

But he was gone.

"Damn him." Rena muttered, darting quickly to the left to avoid another bomb.

Deidara was really beginning to get on her nerves. He was the one who had Gaara, but she had to get rid of Sasori before she could go after him. She had deduced that taking them out one at a time was the best way, however that was worlds easier said than done.

"Persistent aren't you." Came the deep, rumbling voice of Hiruko from directly in front of her.

His tail shot from between the trees, aimed straight at her chest, but she deflected the blow with a kunai and moved to the right, keeping a wary eye on the poison dipped tip. She hadn't thought to ask Sakura for one of the antidote vials before she left, so one scratch and she'd be done for.

The advantage was that she had pinpointed Sasori's location; the downside was that Deidara was still dropping bombs.

Hiruko moved slowly from between the trees, and deep from within that puppet came the throbbing pulse of the only living part encased in Sasori's chest; it spread cold across her skin. Rena grit her teeth. This was going to be extremely difficult, Deidara she could feel, but Sasori was entirely different and she was not going to be able to gauge his attacks.

Puppets were her only weakness, being that they weren't alive, she couldn't feel them and that put her in serious danger. Despite not sensing the puppet, she could normally feel the puppeteer and taking them out wasn't that difficult. However Sasori did not have a living body, and the faint pulse that came from him was just that, a pulse and she could glean nothing from it. The feeling of facing him and knowing that he was alive and yet not being able to feel him move was akin to the numbing effect of Novocain. The whole thing set her teeth on edge. Sasori of the Red Sand was probably the worst opponent she could face. The situation was already looking very bleak.

At that moment, Deidara landed his dragon a few feet behind Hiruko in a small clearing and jumped down, walking to Sasori's side.

"I really can't remember the last time someone was moronic enough to come at us alone nh." He said.

"You're keeping us from a very important appointment and I hate keeping others waiting." Hiruko said harshly.

"You go on ahead Deidara, I will take care of this little inconvenience."

Rena clenched her fists in irritation. That was exactly what she was hoping they would not do.

Deidara smirked his acknowledgement, leaped to stand atop his dragon and soared away. Rena watched his departure with terrible anger and growing fear.

Rena's eyes shifted then to Sasori, but before she could move to attack she suddenly found that she couldn't move.

"No." Ka's voice rang through her mind, taking on a tone of absolute authority that she had never heard before.

"This is not preordained." His awareness suddenly flooded her body, taking possession of it. He had never intervened so directly before and Rena found that she had become emotionally detached, as if her feelings had checked out once Ka had checked in.

Rena caught one more glimpse of Sasori before flames appeared out of the air at her feet and spiraled up around her, encasing her in a funnel of fire. When it receded, she was gone.

~*~

"You stupid girl." Ka said as he released his hold over her body and mind. "You have a very specific task and you can't complete it if you're dead."

"I didn't know…"

"Yes you did, I warned you before you found Sasori with the hope that you would pay me heed and not go blundering after him like some fool."

She did not respond, instead she turned her attention to where Ka had spirited her away to. It was dim and the air was cool and still. The far off sound of trickling water echoed through the space and she realized she was in a cave of some sort.

"Where are we?"

"A very sacred place, you have something very special to do here."

As Rena looked around the cave, she noticed that walls were completely smooth and shone as if polished. They were a pale, silvery color, almost resembling opal or abalone, but not quite. The opening of the cave arched high above her head, and the expanse beyond was black. There was a small pool at the far end of the rounded enclosure, fed by a waterfall that trickled down the wall. She wandered over to observe it. The water was black as night and was absolutely still, despite the water the trickled into it. Bits of light swirled and danced deep within that water, as if all the starry universe were contained within.

"What is this place?" She asked aloud, voice full of wonder as she stared into the pool.

"A place in between. You don't yet have the strength to complete this task on the earth plane."

"In between where?"

"Just…in between. The answer would only confuse you."

Rena frowned, a bit hurt at that response, but nodded. It was then that she noticed a murmuring; it was so faint that it was almost unnoticeable. It buzzed in the back of her mind, sounding not like the voice of one, but of many.

"What is that?" She asked, straining to distinguish whatever it was the voices were saying.

"Only something else that would confuse you, I don't have the leisure to explain the mechanics of the universe; we've got to get down to business. Listen carefully Jin, we're here because we're going to bring someone back."

"Who?"

"The self-same man who's jutsu you've been studying."

Rena lifted her head in astonishment.

"The Yondaime? But why?"

"Not only had he been looking very deeply into the dealings of these organ traffickers before he died, but you cannot hope to master Hiraishin without his aid. There were a great many things he was unable to finish before his death, a death that was not supposed to occur for some time. Something happened a long time ago that wasn't supposed to and it threw this universe out of balance. Namikaze is the key to restoring that balance."

Rena thought hard about that, she wanted to question more, but figured Ka would explain further in due time. Suspicion that he was much more than just a fire spirit ebbed at her and she heard him chuckle in response to that thought.

"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to figure that out." He said, "But you are correct, I'm a bit more complicated than that, but let's just keep things simple for now."

Rena only nodded in response. There was obviously much more going on here than she initially thought, and it was probably so complex that it would take Ka ages to explain it all. There was still a lot that she didn't understand, but she also knew that everything would come to light soon enough and that she just needed to trust Ka.

"Now here's what we're going to do, over on the far left wall is an indention, in it you'll find a headband, I want you to retrieve it and then sit with it on the edge of the water with your back to the pool."

Rena did as instructed and sat staring at the crest of Konoha etched into the mirrored surface of the headband. There were nicks and scratches here and there and the fabric was frayed in places, signifying that it had belonged to someone.

"That belonged to Minato. In order to revive him, you need something imbued with his energy and that will do very well. I've kept it here all these years waiting for you. What I want you to do is focus on it, and on the energy contained within it, do you understand?"

She nodded, already focusing that other sense on the very faint traces of energy that had stuck with the headband. An odd sort of tingle started to spread throughout her body and she felt a pulling sensation just behind her bellybutton. Then suddenly the slight pulling turned to a sharp yank and the air was crushed from her lungs as she felt herself hurtling through space.

As quick as it had happened, it was over. The air returned to her lungs and she stood on what felt like solid ground.

However now, she was in an entirely different place, nearly fully encompassed by darkness, there seemed to be no line between ground and sky, just vast, endless black and a silence so absolute it sent a chill down her spine.

She stood before a wall. Immense, black and impregnable, it lay before her in towering silence, higher than anything else in the world and she shrunk before its immeasurable immensity.

"It's impossible." She murmured. Her face was lifted in observation of the wall, whose edges extended so unfathomably far, they lay shrouded in the darkness of whatever place they were in.

"Nothing is impossible."

"I don't even know how to…" She replied, placing a palm against the smooth black surface. There were no seams, no ruts or cracks nothing that even remotely resembled stone. She a sneaking suspicion that this immense wall before her was but one block in the overall magnitude of what she was facing.

"Not with your hands my dear Jin. Use your mind and your sixth sense."

She stepped tentatively closer to the wall, feeling like a speck of dust in comparison the towering black barrier. She placed both palms against the cold surface and furrowed her brow in concentration.

She probed along the wall, not with her hands, but with her mind and spread her other awareness out along the wall as far as it would go and she pushed against it, striving to reach through the very substance of death and pull him back into the world of the living.

With all her strength, she pushed but with no results. With a deep breath, she hurled herself entirely into the struggle, delving deeper and deeper into the effort against that blackness, but the barrier would not yield.

"Do not stop." Came Ka's voice, and she felt his enormous strength join with hers.

All of a sudden the barrier broke and Rena's awareness rushed in. Now, he had been full grown and his death had been profound, so he was far beyond the wall. It took a bit of searching but ultimately she found him and pulled him back through that temporary opening before the crushing weight of keeping it open became too much for herself and Ka.

Instantly, they were back in that shining enclosure.

The cave walls flickered and then suddenly rang as if a bell had been struck deep within the earth. The sound shimmered and filled the air inside the chamber with a vibrant ringing. A blinding white light flared with a searing brightness for a fraction of a second and then dimmed.

Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, Rena's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground, shaking and breathing hard. When she heard the rustle of clothing, she lifted her head.

Her lips turned up into a tired, but victorious smile.

Before her, with an expression of utter bafflement, stood Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage and famed Yellow Flash of the Leaf.

~*~

I looked and there before me was a pale horse and its rider was named Death and Hell was following close behind him.


	5. Chapter 51

Chapter 5.1:

Dawn broke across the sky and the light from the rising sun began filtering through the overcast sky when they came upon the first signs of battle.

There were large craters here and there and trees lay in a pulverized state all around them.

Kakashi was frowning as he stopped to stand in the middle of the mess, bringing a hand to his chin in contemplation.

"There was definitely battle here, but there's no blood." Sakura said, kneeling down to observe one of the craters.

Sasuke moved to assess a pair of tracks that angled off to the left, disappearing into a grove of trees that had a clear path cut through, the ground riddled with various sized craters and trees reduced to splinters. They had left a trail as wide as a house.

"These can't be more than a few hours old." He said, Sharingan activated and moving his eyes from the tracks to the dense forest.

"What do you think Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, drawing his cloak tighter about him.

"I think this is where she intercepted them. They didn't attack, but instead chose to try and run, probably not wanting to waste energy or chakra on a serious fight, but she gave chase and the one who uses explosives obviously tried to slow her down from above. Come on, we need to follow the tracks, we may not have very much time left."

Kakashi responded, and with a nod from the rest of the group, they moved off into the trees.

~*~

"Where am I?" Minato asked, casting wary glances around the strange cave, and at Rena herself. "And who are you?"

Rena took a few seconds to regain a bit of strength and think of a suitable response. The effort of bringing him back had been monumental and all the energy had drained from her body as soon as it was over. Being as she didn't know where they were, she didn't really have an answer for him.

"I don't exactly know where we are. I'm the one that brought you back, with…" she made a sort of vague gesture, "help."

Minato then turned to look at her with a quizzical expression.

"We are at a place in-between the spiritual world and the real world." Came Ka's voice, but instead of echoing through Rena's mind, it rang through the cave itself.

There was a shimmering in the air to her right, like heat waves coming off asphalt on a hot day. After a few moments, a man materialized. He was tall and his hair was very long and incandescently white—from conscious choice, Rena felt, rather than from any result of age. He wore a deep crimson robe and while his face was young, it was filled with enormous wisdom, infinite patience and timeless existence. She knew, instantly, that she was looking at the human visage of Ka. His eyes were kindly, and the exact same shade of gold as her own. She realized then why her hair had turned white and her eyes were a shimmering gold. Disciples more often than not, resembled their masters.

"Shishou," She said with reverence, moving to her feet and bowing deeply.

Ka smiled softly and inclined his head. "You've done very well Jin. You've proved that you are most fit for your task, and I will explain more when the time comes."

He then turned to face Minato, who stood staring at him in mute awe. While he didn't know who he was, he knew without a doubt from Ka's immediate sense of presence that he was not a man, but something much more, perhaps even divine and he was not prepared for the impact of that presence.

"Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"  
Minato blinked, and then his brow furrowed as he thought back.

"I remember…the Kyuubi. I remember it was attacking the village and I had to…there was no other choice but to seal it within my own son. Kushina was there and once the seal was complete the Kyuubi had tried to kill Naruto, but we stopped it. The next thing I know, I'm here."

Ka nodded.

"Kushina…is Kushina here?" Minato questioned, his eyes suddenly alight with hope as he began looking around the cave more intently.

Ka's eyes saddened as he answered. "I'm afraid not. The effort of reaching beyond the veil is tremendous and can only be done once in a great while. She is not needed by Necessity at the present, but perhaps in time."

The pain of being without his wife showed clear in Minato's eyes, but it only lasted a couple of seconds before they hardened and he spoke again.

"Why did you bring me back?" He asked.

"You have a task Namikaze Minato, and because of your untimely death, that task went uncompleted and thus caused the world to descend into darkness. With the birth of your son, we move toward the final meeting between light and dark, and if we intend to prevail, we need you alive."

Minato looked perplexed, but before he could voice any kind of question, Ka continued.

"You see, ever since the beginning of time, the universe has moved steadily in one direction, following one path and there was only one possible outcome for everything and everyone that ever was, is and will be. However, something happened by accident that was not a part of that plan, and it threw the universe out of balance and instead of one possible outcome, a second came into existence. These two possibilities have been battling each other for uncountable eons. Now, these two…awarenesses shall we say, cannot confront each other directly, or they'd rend the entire universe asunder, so they instead act through vessels. In each meeting there is a Child of Light and a Child of Dark. In the last meeting, you Minato were the instrument of Light and your masked opponent was the instrument of Dark. Unfortunately, Dark prevailed and Light was forced to find a new instrument." Ka paused and looked then to Rena.

Her eyebrows shot up with a start. "Me?"

"Yes. There are many things that you have to do before the final Child of Light comes into his inheritance."

"You mean Naruto."

"Indeed. He is The Chosen One, the child of destiny. We have awaited his coming since the beginning of time; he is the vessel of all our hopes. In the final meeting, if he should lose, the Dark prophecy will win and the Child of Dark will have lordship and dominion over the entire world. Rather unpleasant if you ask me." Ka replied.

Minato took a deep breath as he mulled over what he'd just been told. "So there are two prophecies and each prophecy's…spirit acts through a certain person. And there two possible outcomes but we don't know which one will happen until the final meeting ends."

"Precisely," Ka said with a smile.

"So where do you fit in?"

Ka's smile widened and his eyes twinkled. "Let's just say I am the Prophecy of Light, although it goes a bit deeper than that. I am the original awareness, I embody the initial plan and my counterpart embodies the other. While I am the personification if you will, of good, he is darkness and discord incarnate."

Rena and Minato looked at him in bafflement. A personification of an outcome…of a prophecy…of good itself? The notion was difficult to understand and the both of them struggled with it.

Ka took on a pensive expression in response to the look of confusion on their faces. "It's easier to wrap your mind around it if you think of it as a game of chess. I and my counterpart are the players and you are our chess pieces. We've been at this game for a very long time and we are nearing the end of it. Once one of us reaches checkmate, it'll all be over for the loser and the fate of the universe will be decided for good."

"So we better not lose then?" Rena said, with an apprehensive chuckle. The revelations that Ka had just made sent an awful chill down her spine. They were shouldering an incredible responsibility and the knowledge of what was at stake weighed heavy on her shoulders. It was only the fate of the entire universe, no big deal. As Rena stood there, trembling with cold fear, she found herself questioning why me?

"Because it has to be you, nobody else can do what has to be done. Things will turn out most unpleasant if we lose, but I have the utmost faith in all of you." Ka said, giving her a warm, confident smile that immediately evaporated the fear that had began to encompass her and replaced with an iron determination.

"Now, I'm going to return the both of you to the Earth plane, I'll give you each further instructions at a later time, but for now, you must join the others and recover the Kazekage. Minato, it is your first task to help Jin gain mastery of the Hiraishin jutsu; it is imperative that she master it before the end of summer." Ka told the both of them.

"We must leave now. Be strong, both of you."

There was another searing white light and then they found themselves standing in the midst of a grove of trees.

~*~

Sasuke stood in the center of the clearing where the tracks had finally led, irritation etched all over his features. His Sharingan took in every detail, but he could not determine which direction they had gone in. He couldn't really care less about the Kazekage, but Rena was a different matter. She had changed radically, to the point where Dante no longer even existed and he knew that her loyalties no longer lay with him. And then there was the shady relationship with Kakashi, that for whatever reason gave him incredible urge to kick the man in the teeth. However he still had a compulsion to protect her, to make sure that no harm came to her and now he had lost her yet again. He felt utterly helpless and he struggled to keep his anger under control.

"There's nothing here," He said in a gruff voice, "It just ends."

Kakashi was kneeling down, looking at a pair of footprints in the dirt.

"There are scorch marks here." He observed, moving to pick up a bit of the scorched earth between his thumb and forefinger.

"There's not a drop of blood either. Maybe they took her captive." Sakura offered, but even she doubted the suggestion she'd just made, the surroundings weren't right. There was significantly less damage in the clearing, signifying that a fight did not occur there, yet the trail had gone completely cold.

If they had taken her captive, there would be more signs of battle. Sakura doubted Rena would've gone peacefully.

"I think it's safe to say that she's still alive, but as to where she and the Akatsuki members went, I haven't got any idea." Kakashi said, and sighed as he moved farther out into the clearing.

"What do we do Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his brow creased with worry.

Kakashi realized then that they were all looking at him, expectation on their faces, waiting for him to deliver their next move. He would need a while to think about it, because frankly he had no idea what to do, but they didn't have time to be idle. With each passing minute Gaara was getting closer and closer to death and the chances of finding Rena alive went down. But there was just nothing to work with, there was no trail. There was absolutely nothing they could use; they weren't even sure which direction the Akatsuki went in…however…

Without bothering to stop to explain Kakashi bit into his thumb and summoned Pakkun. In a poof smoke, the little pug appeared and uttered brief hello.

"Pakkun, I need you to see if you can find any scents in the area, as fast as you can."

Pakkun nodded and got to work immediately. After only a minute or so, he located the scent of Sasori.

"There's two more scents here Kakashi." He said, nose sniffing at the ground. "One is the white haired female you like so much and the other isn't familiar to me."

Kakashi felt a jolt of hope run through his body at that and gave a nervous chuckle at Pakkun's description of Rena. Sometimes he wished the ninken weren't so direct. He really ought to stop babbling about personal matters in front of them. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Naruto throw Sakura a sidelong grin and mouthed "told you so". Sasuke's expression went stony and Chiyo raised an eyebrow. He decided to ignore all of it.

"Can you tell which direction she went in?"

Pakkun sniffed around a bit more, but he gave a vexed grunt and shifted his forepaws uncomfortably.

"I can tell where the unknown scent goes, but her scent stops dead, like she just disappeared into thin air. It's unnatural."

"Like…she died?" Naruto asked.

"No." Kakashi answered, his voice suddenly very grave. "If she had died, there would still be a scent. No matter what direction she went in, there would be a scent. It's possible the rain washed it away, but there would still be faint remains considering Pakkun can still smell the Akatsuki members...It's like she just…ceased to exist."

Pakkun nodded in agreement.

The group gave a collective start at that, shocked expressions adorning all of their faces.

"But Kakashi-sensei that doesn't…I mean how is that even possible?" Sakura exclaimed.

Before the man could try and tackle that question, Pakkun emitted a short bark and spun eastwards.

"There!" He shouted, "It's her scent, it's coming our way…and there's another with her."

"Who?" Chiyo asked the tiny ninken.

"I don't know the scent, but they're moving together, so I imagine it's not an enemy."

Naruto suddenly jumped, a smile engulfing his face, "Maybe it's Gaara!" He shouted excitedly, "Maybe she won!"

"Let's go!" Kakashi ordered, relief washing over every fiber, not only at knowing that she was alive, but also at the possibility that she had retrieved the Kazekage alive.

The prospect of Rena just disappearing off the face of the Earth had put such a deep-seated feeling of dread and loss in his heart that it had taken everything he had to remember his responsibility as captain and keep a level head. He hadn't realized just how important she'd become to him in the last several months. They spent so much time around each other that the idea of not having her there was as unimaginable as not having his right arm. Being on the same team, they sparred, took meals, rested and even trained rookies together. They became so well versed and essential in the other's fighting style that one was not sent on a mission without the other. They may as well have lived together. At first they did it because he had been assigned to train her and there was no other choice, but after they became equals it had just become subconscious.

Kakashi by nature, was a solitary man. Sure he had acquaintances, friends even, but he always kept them at arm's length. He never spoke about his personal life, or tried to involve himself in theirs and that was the way he liked it. He was a man who enjoyed and strove for simplicity. He trained alone if he could help it; he spent all of his off days alone with the exception of his ninken. He was so used to his solitary lifestyle that he had totally dismissed the idea of trying finding someone to share his life with, despite the numerous complaints and urgings of Iruka and Asuma along with the rest of the Jonin. As much as he had tried to deny it, even to himself, it all boiled down to the fact that he was afraid. He had lost every single person that was ever important to him: his mother, his father, his best friend, his first love and his sensei. His life had been so filled with the pain of loss that he inherently and subconsciously avoided forming close relationships for the fear that he would lose them.

And then Rena shattered all of that. She completely disrupted his quiet, peaceful world and in the beginning he hated the inexplicable, but undeniable urge to be in her company-and by extension-her. With the way they interacted with each other now, it would never be suspected that they had once detested each other. She couldn't stand his laziness and skewed sense of logic and he couldn't stand her dry sardonic witticisms and condescending, ruthless attitude. But as they were forced to spend more and more time together, the more they grew to truly understand each other and the more they grew inclined to the other's presence.

It still filled him with warmth that she trusted him so explicitly that she had saw fit to reveal her darkest secrets to him without fear that he would turn her over to the village or betray the unshakable trust that existed between them. He realized at that moment, that he would go to the ends of the Earth for her, and he resolved to make sure he told her exactly that when they returned to the village.

"There!" Sakura shouted, a smile on her face as Rena, a little haggard, but otherwise unharmed came into view.

Kakashi resisted the urge to rush to her and draw her into an embrace. He kept his expression cool, not revealing just how glad he was that she was okay. It wasn't the place or the time.

When they all met on the forest floor, there was a slightly wild look in her golden eyes, as if she had witnessed something incredible, or heard unsettling news. Whoever she had been with was not with her as she walked toward them.

"Rena-chan you're okay!" Naruto exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. "Did you rescue Gaara?! Where is he?" He asked excitedly, looking around behind her.

Rena looked regretful, "Ah, well…no. I wasn't able to recover the Kazekage, I was…otherwise occupied and lost the Akatsuki, but I know where they are and we still have some time. We'll get him back, don't worry." She told him, an encouraging smile on her face.

Naruto looked deflated, but nodded.

"But then who was it that was with you?" Pakkun asked, trotting over to her.

"Hello Pakkun." She said fondly, kneeling to scratch behind his ears and he made happy little grunts in response before she straightened.

"He's agreed to stay out of sight for the time being, if he steps out now, it's going to be a shock that none of you are quite prepared to handle just yet. There are some complicated things I have to explain first."

"What did you mean you were otherwise occupied?" Sasuke asked, stepping forward, eyes surreptitiously scanning her for any kind of serious injury but he found none. He was surprised to find that his breathing came easier with the knowledge that she was just fine.

Rena's brow furrowed and she cast her eyes down struggling with how exactly to go about explaining something that seemed unexplainable. She took a deep breath and began, deciding to not to beat around the bush.

"I brought someone back from the dead."

Everyone started visibly at that and there was silence.

Rena moved to sit on a tree stump and brought her hands to her neck, trying to massage away the bone-deep weariness that still afflicted her.

"How…who?" Chiyo responded, asking the question that was hovering in the air over all of them.

Rena looked straight at Kakashi before answering.

"The Yondaime."

Kakashi's eye widened, his stomach dropped and his breath hitched. He opened his mouth several times, but he could find no words. His mind had gone totally blank.

"You…you brought back the Fourth?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed. "By what method?"

From the knowing look Rena gave him, it was evident she knew he suspected she had used Orochimaru's Edo Tensei.

"I didn't use that, if that's what you're wondering." She said. "I didn't simply reanimate him; it's more permanent than that. I resurrected him; he's exactly as he was before, as if he had never died in the first place. It'll be as much of a shock for him to see all of you, as it is for you to see him. He had no idea how much time has passed since his death. Technically, he's still twenty-three."

"If you didn't use that technique then how did you bring him back. There's no jutsu in existence that can do something like that." Sasuke said. It seemed he was the only one who still had his bearings.

"I'm not sure you'd understand or even believe me, but I suppose I'll do my best to explain." Rena responded.

"Some time before I left sound, I became acquainted with the spirit of fire, or at least that's the form he chose in the beginning. After I left Sound, I became his disciple and he instructed me not only in the ways of nature chakra and sage art where my sensory ability stems from, but combat, fire style and everything in between. Under his tutelage, I learned in the span of only a few months, what would've otherwise taken several years under normal circumstances. It was also with his help that I infiltrated Konoha without any issues and after I entered the ANBU, he was absent for a while. He came back just before I was about to fight Sasori and Deidara. He warned me not to fight them, but I didn't listen and he had to intervene. He took possession of me to stop the impending battle and transported me to a place in between the real world and the spirit world. It was under his orders and with his help that I brought the Yondaime back in that strange place."

Rena paused there to assess her comrade's faces, to make sure they were following. They looked a bit surprised, but the only one who looked lost was Naruto, but that was to be expected.

"After it was done, he revealed that he was in fact much more than the spirit of fire. He explained that in the beginning, there was only one possible outcome for the universe and a long time ago, something happened that wasn't supposed to and then suddenly there were two possible destinies for the universe, one light and one dark. These two outcomes are actual intelligent…awarenesses. They are the prophecies of light and dark and they're such enormous forces that if they were to fight directly the entire universe would be destroyed in their wake, so they act through vessels. Vessels that he called "instruments of prophecy" and these vessels have meetings every so often. In each meeting there is a Child of Light and a Child of Dark who is the channel for each prophecy. The last time they met, Minato was the Child of Light and unfortunately he lost. Who I first thought was the fire spirit was actually the prophecy of light, the original plan for the universe. He's essentially the personification of good and there is a personification of dark somewhere out there too, working toward the opposing destiny with his own set of vessels.

"To bring Minato-sensei back I had to literally reach through the very substance of death. I still don't completely understand how I did it, there was a wall and I somehow had to reach beyond that wall. I couldn't do it alone of course, he had to help me, but it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Apparently Minato and all the rest of us have tasks that we have to complete, or the prophecy of light will fail and darkness will encompass the world. That's why he had to come back, there's still things he has to do." Rena finished, her eyes tired but alert as she looked at each of them. The look in Kakashi's eye was pensive, Sakura was looking at the ground in contemplation, Sasuke's face was unreadable as always, Chiyo looked skeptical and Naruto looked completely and utterly lost.

Heavy silence prevailed her lengthy explanation of not only how, but why she brought back the Fourth and no one was quite sure how to respond or even handle this new information.

"Well...I think that was a good enough explanation for now. It's completely crazy and I'm not sure I even really understand a word you just said, but let's see this Fourth Hokage and I'll decide if I believe you or not." Chiyo said in a disbelieving tone.

The others nodded their agreement and Rena assessed each of them once more before turning her head to look back into the forest and nodded once.

Then from in between the trees, came Namikaze Minato. He was clad in the same outfit he had worn at the time of his death. The sun broke through the clouds, reflecting off his hitae-ate, and a slight wind caused his cloak to flap around his calves as he came to stand beside Rena.

Everyone was looking at him in stunned awe as they realized that Rena had been telling the truth. At seeing Kakashi, Minato smiled.

"It seems it's been a while Kakashi." He said casually.  
Rena found it remarkable how well he had taken the whole thing. He had shown confusion, but seemed to accept the entire ordeal with a calm understanding. Rena deduced that was most likely due to his time as being Hokage. Learning how to keep calm during even the most pressing or abnormal situations was paramount and Minato did it flawlessly. She realized then, just why he had been such a beloved Kage.

Kakashi nodded, "Sixteen years to be exact sensei." He replied in a quiet tone. His eye searched his teacher's face, his mind subconsciously trying to find some kind of discrepancy to discredit Rena's claim that she had resurrected him. But from the smile, down to the casual way he stood with his hands in his pockets, it was without any shadow of a doubt Namikaze Minato.

And then Minato turned to study each of the rest of them, and when his eyes settled on Naruto, who stood with his mouth agape, his smile widened slightly, but he said nothing. It had been the prophecy's instruction not to reveal to the boy that he was his father just yet, he would have to wait for the proper time. While it hurt terribly not having Kushina there to share the moment, being able to see his son's face was such an incredible joy that it nearly brought tears to his eyes. Naruto had grown considerably and his preference for the color orange was endearing.

"So it really is you." Chiyo breathed, assessing Minato first through narrowed eyes, and then through wide ones.

"I'm glad to see you're well Chiyo-san. The last time we spoke you were trying to kill me." Minato responded in a good-natured tone.

Rena then saw that Minato had impeccable manners, something that his son invariably lacked.

Chiyo threw her head back and laughed. "I was wasn't I? I had almost forgotten about that. That was before you became Hokage. It's your own fault though; you made a nuisance of yourself."

Minato chuckled, but didn't respond further.

Kakashi had an eyebrow raised at the interaction between his sensei and Chiyo. He'd had no idea they knew each other. That was a story he definitely wanted to hear.

Sakura's eyebrows raised as something hit her. "Er…" She uttered, not really sure how she should address the man, so she instead turned to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to tell the village? Tsunade-sama's probably going to have a stroke if we just walk in without any explanation."

"Tsunade?" Minato asked, surprise on his face. "I thought she had left the village."

Kakashi nodded, "After you died, the Sandaime came out of retirement and took over as Hokage." He said, and then scratched nervously at the back of his head. "They wanted me to be Hokage and well…I didn't really feel qualified. Anyway, Sarutobi-san died defending the village against Orochimaru a few years back and Tsunade succeeded him."

Minato's eyes saddened at hearing his predecessor had died, but otherwise looked impressed that Tsunade was the Godaime.

"I'm actually surprised you convinced her to take the job." He said, expression thoughtful.

Kakashi nodded, "They asked Jiraiya first, but he laughed them out the door."

Minato chuckled softly. "Jiraiya-sensei is a great shinobi, but he'd be a terrible Hokage."

Rena watched their exchange with polite silence, but time was dragging on and they needed to get after the Kazekage, so she moved to stand and Minato turned to look at her with concern as she did so.

"I hate to cut things short, but there will be time later to get caught up. We can worry about what to tell the village after we recover the Kazekage." She said gravely.

"Are you sure you're alright to fight?" Minato asked, "You could barely stand when we returned from that cave."

Rena nodded. "Don't worry about me. It didn't take any chakra to…well you know." She said, waving her hand vaguely. "Let's go."

With that, they moved into the trees, following Rena's lead.

"You weren't injured?" Sakura asked, moving to run beside the girl. Sakura's trained eye saw that her friend was completely exhausted, but she masked it masterfully. When Rena shook her head in response to Sakura's question, she raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You had an altercation with the Akatsuki and you didn't get so much as a scratch?" She questioned further, thoroughly impressed, but doubtful.

"Well, I'm not sure it could be called an altercation. Sasori ran, I chased him and Deidara dropped bombs on me from the air. It was more annoying than anything. I probably would've been able to handle Deidara, but Sasori is a probably the worst opponent I could face. The prophecy interrupted before things had a chance to really get underway. If he hadn't, Sasori would've probably killed me." She said in a sort of offhand manner.

"You don't seem too afraid to face him." Sakura replied quietly.

Rena looked at her briefly, and then turned forward again. "I'm not really. Facing him is incredibly dangerous sure, but I'm not afraid of him."

"How? I mean he could've killed you and you knew that, but you weren't afraid at all?"

While Sakura liked Rena, she was completely perplexed by her almost uncaring attitude towards facing an opponent that was leagues ahead of her and knowing that she would've died if she had fought him.

Rena took a deep breath, thinking of the best way to explain it.

Minato turned his head slightly, listening intently, wondering how she would respond. The unperturbed tone she had taken when she explained that Sasori probably would've killed her piqued his interest.

"Fear isn't real Sakura." Rena said finally.

"What does that mean? Of course it's real, everyone is afraid of something, especially when it's dangerous." Sakura replied, not sure she understood completely.

Rena turned to look at Sakura as she moved to the next branch, a small smile on her face.

"Danger is very real, but fear is a choice. Fearing someone only gives them an advantage and makes them harder to beat. I learned to be free of fear because it kept me from doing what I have to do. A ninja's life is grim sure enough, but the life of a Hunter is so full of darkness it's almost impossible to bear at times. It takes a certain talent of compartmentalizing and if I have to deal with crippling fear all the time I would never get anything done."

"How did you do it? Become free of fear that is." Sakura asked, shocked that such a thing was even humanly possible.

"A while back, one my first assignments as a Hunter was to take out a small faction in the Mist that had dubbed themselves "Peacekeepers." They were a group bent on taking control of Mist and starting a world war." Rena replied, noticing that the others had moved closer in, enraptured by their conversation.

Chiyo scoffed, "How contradicting."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, they were a clan who had a special knack for onmyoujutsu and had summoned an army of kyofu-kitsune, blind fox spirits that had the ability to possess humans. Before our squad, many others had been sent to kill the clan that controlled them since the kitsune could only be stunned and not killed. However the task was nearly impossible. When a person is afraid, they emit a pheromone from their pores and the kitsune could detect that pheromone. So they could quite literally smell fear. The kitsune were smart and would make examples of those who tried to kill their masters in order to deliberately scare the next wave of assassins so they could track them."

"What do you mean make examples?" Naruto jutted in.

"They would dismember or disembowel them, and sometimes they would even get creative and skin them and then they would impale them on stripped trees where the next group would find them. It was ghastly warfare but fitting for a fox spirit. They're notorious for being deviously clever. Anyway, Tsunade finally sent Kakashi and I and two other Hunters to take care of it. The things we saw when we entered the compound were so unspeakably gruesome even we lost our lunch. It was probably the single most disgusting show of disregard for human life I've ever seen. Then to get to the main estate, we had to go through the kitsune themselves. Even though they're spirits, they have real bodies and can do serious damage and we were hopelessly outnumbered. We lost two hunters and Kakashi and I had to face them alone with no chance of back up getting there in time. I remember three had cornered Kakashi and I knew at that instant that if I didn't get a hold of myself and do something, that we would both die and war would break out. I rooted myself in that moment and detached my emotions to where I could only see what I needed to do and when I did so, the kitsune suddenly lost sense of where I was and I realized it couldn't see me anymore; that I was invisible to it and to all the others that were moving to attack.

I stunned the three that were after Kakashi and told him what he had to do. It took a while and a few more cracked ribs on his part, but he finally managed and we were able to slip through the kitsune and take out the ones controlling them."

"That was an awful mission." Kakashi remarked, shuddering at the memory.

"It's almost like a doctor having a clinical detachment when talking about the death of a patient. If he gave in to the emotions, he wouldn't be able to do his job as efficiently." Rena explained. "That's not to say you should kill all of your emotions, that's unhealthy, but getting rid of your fear can be enormously helpful. After we got back, specialized training was developed for it."

"What's the training like?" Sasuke asked.

"It's overseen by Danzo, so knowing him, probably grotesque." Rena muttered, spitting out Danzo's name as if it were a bad taste in her mouth. It was clear she more than disliked the man.

Rena suddenly stopped on a high branch, eye closed and brow furrowed in intense concentration.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, stopping beside her.

"We're almost right on top of them." Minato answered, looking intently through the trees, apparently able to sense the same thing Rena could.  
Rena nodded and opened her eyes. "There's a cave ahead, it's got a special barrier around it, but not the one I had suspected. Deidara and Sasori are inside with Gaara. We need to figure out our plan of action first."

"With the Fourth here this should be cake!" Naruto said, his eyes brimming with excitement at getting to see the famed Yellow Flash in action.

Minato gave a nervous laugh and waved the compliment away. "I'll certainly do what I can." He said modestly.

"Kakashi and Sasuke, your raiton affinities will be strong against Deidara's earth jutsu, so you two and Naruto will go after him. Sakura, Chiyo and I will take on Sasori. It's likely that they'll separate to draw you away from us Naruto, since they're after the Kyuubi so try not to let your emotions get the best of you." Rena said, and then turned to Minato. "You outrank all of us, so it's not my place to give you orders. Who you fight with is your choice."

Minato thought for a moment. There was Sasori, who was the puppet user and then Deidara who utilized explosives. Minato first considered accompanying Kakashi since he was familiar with his fighting style, but then took into consideration that Rena had not yet recovered. The effort she had expelled to resurrect him had obviously taken a huge toll on her strength no matter how much she tried to hide it. Not only that, but Minato had heard rumors about Sasori and if they were true, then Rena would be a serious disadvantage.

"I think it would be best if I help against Sasori. You won't be able to sense him, but I can." He decided.

Everyone nodded, and Naruto looked a bit glum at not getting to see the fight, but nodded his acceptance of the plan.

"Tsunade-sama will probably send back up and they'll arrive soon. It's likely we'll be well into battle by the time they do and once I sense them I'll alert them via radio and send them in your direction Kakashi. We're going to have a kage with us, so it's only fair you get a few more subordinates against Deidara, you'll need them." Rena said.

Kakashi nodded and didn't protest. He had seen Minato fight. Numbers made little difference to him, he had a wicked fast wit and was smarter than himself and Shikamaru put together. He was incredibly modest about it, but he had enormous power and could defeat Sasori on his own if he had to. Kakashi was infinitely glad to have him back.

Rena suddenly spun in the direction of the cave, her expression stricken.

"They've finished it." She said gravely. "Let's go."

They moved down to stand before the immense boulder that blocked the entrance, assessing the tag that adorned the center of it.

"This is the same barrier we used when…" Minato said, trailing off. "It'll take me a while, but I can break it. Whatever you do, don't touch the boulder until I'm done."

He leaped into the air and flashed through a number of seals and then slammed his hand flat on the tag before rooting himself to the face of the boulder with chakra. Multiple intricate markings spread out from his hand, and they realized that he was using some kind of sealing jutsu.

"The Fourth can use fuinjtusu?" Naruto asked with surprise.

"He's almost too well versed." Chiyo responded and there was an edge to her voice. Kakashi suspected Minato-sensei's extensive knowledge on the subject had caused Chiyo quite a bit of trouble in the past.

The seal then spread to cover the entire boulder, and kept moving until it had shot far past them to angle and amble over the geography, extending far beyond their scope of sight.

"That seal is enormous." Sakura said, her eyes wide. "The amount of chakra and control something like that takes to do alone is almost mind bending. That normally takes about fifty shinobi to do."

Naruto looked at her and then paled as he looked back up at the former kage. "Glad he's on our side." He said quietly.

The rest of group nodded mutely in agreement.  
After a few more seconds the black characters of seal began to glow in a number of undulating colors and steadily grew brighter until there was a rippling across the front of the boulder and then it turned a violet hue before shattering into a million infinitesimally small shards and disappearing.

Minato jumped away from the boulder and released the seal as he did so. When he landed next to Kakashi and Rena, the seal had disappeared completely and he didn't look in the least bit tired.

"Now all that's left is to get through the boulder itself." He said, and they could practically see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out the best way to go about it.

"I can take care of it." Sakura said, and motioned for the others to move back.

She moved some distance away from the entrance and then ran toward it, building chakra in her fist as she did so. When she reached the face of the boulder she slammed her fist into it, releasing the chakra at the exact second of impact. Cracks shot across the boulder and then it broke, the pieces raining down into the surrounding water.

As soon as the dust began to clear, they all moved quickly into the cave, taking a defensive formation.

The sight that met them was the sight that Rena  
had expected. Sasori stood the right and Deidara sat disrespectfully and nonchalantly atop Gaara's chest.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted, after he'd had a minute to assess the scene. "Where do you think you're sitting?!"

"Well, there's no doubt about it." Deidara remarked to his partner. "He's the Jinchuuriki. Looks like Itachi was right."

"Gaara! What are you doing?! Get up!" Naruto yelled, directing his attention to where the Kazekage was lying.

Sakura and the others looked at him with concern, but no one voiced what they all knew.

"Gaara! Are you listening?! Gaara!"

With that Naruto began to move forward.

"Naruto," Rena said quietly. "That's enough. You know the truth."

The blond looked at her with an agonized expression. He was trembling with rage, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"That's right. You know don't you? He's already long dead." Deidara said, slapping Gaara's face twice with the back of his hand to further prove his statement.

The reaction that movement had on Naruto was exactly what Deidara had been looking for. His hair raised and his teeth sharpened to a point. The Kyuubi's chakra began to take over as his anger mounted.

"Give him back." Naruto said through clenched teeth, struggling to keep himself under control as he remembered Rena's warning. But his resolve broke at the amused smirk that slid on his enemy's face.

"Give Gaara back!" He shouted and then sprang forward, but halted as the Yondaime appeared in front of him, barring his path.

"You've got to calm down." He said in a steady voice. "If you go rushing in without thinking you could get us all killed."

Deidara frowned as he looked intently at the man who had stepped in front of the Jinchuuriki. There was something achingly familiar about him, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. It nagged at him but he couldn't figure out where he'd seen the man's face.

"You're supposed to be dead." Sasori rumbled, eyes on the blond man as well, however he seemed to know who he was.

"Oi Sasori, who is he." He asked, fed up with trying to remember.

"That's the fourth Hokage."

Deidara looked sharply at his comrade and then closer at the man in front of them.

"Well I'll be damned, it is the Yellow Flash. No matter. Sasori my man, you'll probably get mad if say this, but I'll take care of that Jinchuuriki."

Sasori made an annoyed noise at the back of his throat. "Our mission is one Jinchuuriki each. Don't get full of yourself Deidara."

"An artist's passion begins to dull unless they seek greater stimulation my man. Rumor says the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki is pretty powerful. He's an opponent worthy of my art."

"Oh?" Sasori answered, "You call those explosions of yours art? Art is something that beautifully endures extensively into the distant future. Eternal beauty is art!"

Deidara raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at his partner. "Eternal beauty is art? While I respect you as a fellow craftsman my man, art is a fleeting moment of beauty that vanishes gloriously."

"What did you say?" Sasori replied with flint in his voice, turning to fully face his irritating partner.

Minato looked back and forth between the two men with an incredulous expression. Here they were, outnumbered and facing a battle, and they were bickering about art. They must've been pretty confident in their abilities to be acting as such.

"What's up with these guys?" He heard Sakura ask no one in particular.

"Deidara, it seems you don't understand what true art is." Sasori continued, staring at his partner with absolute contempt.

"You're the one who doesn't understand." Deidara replied in a flat voice, but with an expression of haughty superiority.

"No, eternal beauty is true art."

"Don't be a fool. Art is an instant of beauty."

"Knock it off!" Naruto exclaimed, having had enough of their pointless argument. In a fit of rage, he pulled a weapons scroll from his kunai pouch and pulled it open, summoning a giant shuriken that he gripped and hurtled in the direction of Sasori.

Without even looking away from Deidara, he reflected the weapon with his tail, completely ignoring Naruto's outburst.

"Are you trying to make me angry?" He continued without missing a beat.

"I just told you it would probably make you angry didn't I?" Deidara responded.

"You know what happens when I get angry, don't you?" Sasori said, waving his tail threateningly at his partner. "How about it Deidara?"

"Hmph." The man replied, smiling and got to his feet. He was seemingly unworried about the waves of hostility that were coming off Sasori.

"Art to me is…" He paused and looked down at his hand before closing it into a fist and then opening it again, and flinging something into the air. "Explosiveness itself!"

In a huge poof of smoke, the small object he'd thrown expanded to about thirty times it's original size. When the smoke cleared, they realized it was a large clay bird.

"It's a far cry from your silly puppet shows." He said, while the bird bent to pick Gaara up with its rounded beak.

At that comment, Sasori's tail shot at the blond rogue, but he jumped deftly into the air to stand astride the rising bird, avoiding the attack.

"Later my man!" He shouted, and then turned to look at Naruto briefly, before soaring out of the cave, knowing full well that the excitable Jinchuuriki would follow.

Naruto's gaze followed, and he stood watching the retreat and shaking with fury before breaking formation and running after him.

"Hey, wait!" He shouted, eyes raised to the sky.

Kakashi uttered an irritated noise and motioned to Sasuke. "This is as good time as any to split up. We'll leave that one to you sensei." He said.

"Be careful." Sasuke uttered to Rena as he passed her.

She smiled in response, "You be careful. Don't get carried away." Looking at him with a very pointed expression that showed she was referring to his status in the village.

Sasuke nodded, and then followed Kakashi out of the cave, chasing after Naruto.

As they stood facing Sasori, they moved closer together. Minato dipped his hand into his kunai pouch and pulled out a handful of his trademark weapon, tossing two to each of them.

"I don't have time to mark each of you right now, keep one with you at all times, and only use the other when I tell you. It could mean the difference between life and death."

He received nods from each of them.

His piercing blue eyes narrowed as they assessed the enemy.

"And so it begins."


	6. Chapter 52

Chapter 5.2:

All the hardest, coldest people you meet were once soft as water. And that is the tragedy of living.

~*~

"So how did you do it?" Sasori questioned, eyes leveled at his opponent. "Last I heard you died sixteen years ago fighting the very thing that lay inside that Jinchuuriki."

"I don't really see that that's any of your business." Minato replied. His voice had gone beyond cold, it was hollow and emotionless as he carefully surveyed his enemy with a steady, but blank expression. While his face betrayed nothing, Rena knew his mind was quick at work, taking in every minute detail, building a strategy for every possible direction the battle could go in.

Sasori made what almost sounded like a laugh, and then his eyes slowly moved from Minato to those who stood spread out behind him. They passed over Chiyo and Sakura before landing on Rena.

"It was you wasn't it? You and he have the same markings of genius." Sasori said, "The power of resurgence is something our leader would be very interested in. Joining us would have rewards beyond your wildest imaginings." He said. He was definitely too perceptive for Rena's liking.

"Not a chance."

"What a shame. You'll make a nice addition to my collection at any rate."

The red characters that adorned the back of Minato's cloak suddenly came into view as he stepped protectively in front of Rena.

"If you know who I am then you know what I'm capable of, I suggest keeping your eyes on me." Minato said, directing Sasori's suddenly hungry gaze back to him.

His voice was still that of a cold killer and there was a threat in that tone. A chill ran down Rena's spine. While Minato seemed easygoing, he could become very frightening when he got down to business. She now understood the fear that other villages had had of him and how right they were to issue flee-on-sight orders. She also realized that he was going to try and keep Sasori's attention on him as much as possible, probably intending for the rest them to act as cover when necessary. While it was a sound strategy, it would draw the battle out because he would need time to assess Sasori's abilities.

The two stared at each other, their stances neutral, almost casual, but the air practically sizzled with the lethality that both radiated. This was the calm before the storm. They were about to witness the clash of two enormously powerful shinobi, renowned throughout the world and famed for their respective skill.

Rena was suddenly full of excitement; this was going to be a battle for the record books. These two men were nearly beyond human in how much strength they possessed and she was glad to be a part of it. Although, she was apprehensive about facing Sasori, the fact that she couldn't feel him due to his lack of living flesh grated on her nerves. Her greatest asset was totally useless against him.

"Minato-san, there's something you should know." Rena said, golden eyes on their opponent.

Minato turned his head almost imperceptibly; not enough for Sasori to notice, but enough to signify that he'd heard her.

"That's not his actual body. It's a puppet called Hiruko, Chiyo and I are familiar with it. Sasori's real body is inside."

The man nodded just as subtly, but she wasn't finished.

"That's not all. His real body is also a puppet, so he can't be wounded. There's only one small part of him that's living, it's encased in his chest. Also, all of his weapons are coated in paralytic poison; we have an antidote, but only two. We should focus on getting him out of Hiruko and then I'll lead the first attack, I know all of his secrets and hidden weapons and can attack accordingly."

Minato turned his head enough to where he could see her. She saw that his piercing blue eyes were uncertain and slightly disapproving, but he nodded anyway, seeing the sense in her plan. The slight reprehension that had flashed through his eyes caused Rena to feel a bit jilted. It was a good plan and the best way to speed the battle up. He knew that, but he probably wanted to avoid involving the others in the fight unless it was necessary. Not out of any kind of personal superiority, but simply because he didn't want them to be injured if he could help it.

"I know you're trying to protect us, but we're all very capable ninja and we have the advantage of knowing the enemy at a greater capacity than you right now. So you might as well give up on the idea of fighting this alone, it's noble, but unnecessary. I went through too much trouble to bring you back so I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to die just yet." She said, in a tone that was probably sharper than she should've used. She cringed internally, she hadn't meant any disrespect, but she kept her face blank.

Minato raised an eyebrow slowly and she heard Chiyo whistle low and then chuckle softly.

"You've got some gall talking to a kage like that." She said, and then added "We're going to get along just fine."

Sakura's eyes were wide with surprise, and then she threw Rena a look that screamed disapproval.

"You're spending too much time around Kakashi-sensei." she grumbled.

Minato looked her way with just the slightest hint of confusion on his face, wondering what she had meant by that. The Kakashi he remembered never disregarded authority, but obviously things had changed. Although he hadn't appreciated her tone, it took a lot of guts to talk that way to a kage, even a former one and Minato could already tell he would enjoy being her mentor. If there was anything he'd hated while he was Hokage, it was that no one ever spoke what was on their mind, and they never challenged him or offered their opinion. That is, no one aside from those he'd grown up with; Shikaku had been a little more reserved, but Inoichi had never failed to voice his disagreement, loudly if Minato remembered right. He hoped they were still alive, he looked forward to their company.

Rena ignored Sakura's comment and stepped out from behind Minato. She shouldered out of the overlapping, black long-sleeved shirt that made up part of her usual Hunter's uniform and pulled it from where it was tucked in, letting it drop to the ground where its weight made a sizable indention. Underneath she wore the simple form-fitting polyester under armor worn by all ANBU members. It was slightly weighted, and would deflect any glancing blows. She tugged at her right glove where it ended just below her ANBU tattoo, pulling it tighter

"Well Sasori, shall we begin or did you want dally some more?"

~*~

As they moved to catch up with Naruto, Kakashi noticed Sasuke throwing glances behind them.

"They'll be fine. Minato-sensei won't allow any harm to come to them." He said, knowing full well that Sasuke wasn't worried about Sakura or Chiyo as much as he was worried about Rena. "I'm afraid Sasori is in for a very bad day."

Sasuke looked dubious, but turned his gaze forward.

Rena had informed Kakashi a while back that she had been under Sasuke's command and tutelage during the short time she'd been in Sound and he hadn't expected Sasuke did much more than tolerate the relationship, he wasn't really the type to make friends, but it was apparent that there had been perhaps something deeper going on. Rena hadn't given any sort of clues, but there had been very faint indications from Sasuke. From the worried glances down to the stony expression the boy had worn after Pakkun's little slip up spoke volumes. It certainly complicated things. While he cared deeply for Rena, he didn't want to come between anything. However, he got the impression that Rena was not the same person she'd been when she was employed by Orochimaru. He occasionally caught Sasuke looking at Rena with a certain irritated uncertainty, as if he were trying to figure out who she was and was having a hard time of it. He resolved to do more thinking on it at a more appropriate time.

After a few more strides, they finally caught up with the idiot blond, whose attention was entirely focused on the bird above them.

"You did exactly what Rena told you not to do." Sasuke chastised, irritated at Naruto's lack of self-control and that it forced them to separate. It would've been much smarter to take both Akatsuki members at once as a single force. But of course with Naruto, he never stopped to consider the smartest plan of action, having the unfortunate habit of giving himself entirely over to his emotions

Some things never changed.

"Che. Now's not the time teme," was Naruto's response, eyes still in the sky.

"Well, what's the plan Kakashi?" Sasuke questioned, deciding to let it drop.

"We get Gaara back." Naruto answered determinedly for him.

"Obviously. If you haven't noticed dobe, that bird is at least two hundred meters above us, out of the reach of weapons and most long range attacks. We're going to need a better plan than that."

Naruto threw him a glare, but didn't push it.  
Kakashi was silent as he assessed the enemy and their surroundings. Sasuke had been right; the bird was too far up for any attack to be successful. And the only thing that would reach that far would take some time to prepare.

"For now, we follow."

"What?! But—" Naruto objected as Kakashi knew he would.

"Naruto, that Akatsuki member intends to capture you, the only reason for that bird was to draw you away from the others. He won't move beyond our sight and if anything he'll attack first."

"So we're just gonna do nothing?" Naruto exclaimed.

"No." Kakashi retorted, forming a seal and closing his eye. "I have a plan, but I need time."

Naruto released an impatient grunt, but didn't protest further.

Sasuke looked at his old teacher with suspicion. Whatever he was going to do obviously involved the Sharingan. Although it didn't sit well with him that someone other than an Uchiha possessed it, Kakashi was surprisingly adept at using it and he wondered just what the man had planned.

While Kakashi concentrated, Sasuke turned his gaze upward at their opponent. From what Rena had said, he utilized explosives and from what he demonstrated so far, they were made from clay and had varying degrees of explosive power. He was obviously a user of Earth style, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he judged the distance between themselves and the bird. It was too far to reach with raikiri, but maybe…

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, "He threw something!"

"Keep moving!" Sasuke shouted, and then jumped into the air, eyes swirling into the red of the Sharingan.

Immediately he counted thirty-five small clay bombs in the form of what looked like grasshoppers, and he focused his chakra and released a flurry of chidori senbon. Normally, douton was weak against raiton but he had never seen this particular form before and he was working entirely on theory.

He saw the blond Akatsuki member make a seal, but there was no explosion and a slight smirk of victory slid onto Sasuke's face. He dropped back in beside Kakashi and Naruto.

"How did you know that would work?" Naruto questioned.

"I didn't," was his teammate's response.

"You could've gotten us killed."

"Well, we're still alive."

"You didn't know if it would work, but you tried it anyway? That's pretty stupid."

"Not as stupid as running right into an obvious trap." Sasuke shot back with a glare.

Naruto's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. As much as he hated to admit it, the teme was right; he shouldn't have been so quick to follow the dumb Akatsuki member in the first place. It made his blood boil to know that he'd done exactly what the guy wanted and he forced his team to split up.

He sighed, it couldn't be helped now.

"Aren't you done yet Kakashi-sensei?" He asked impatiently. The quicker they could get Gaara back, the quicker they could help their friends. As expected, the man completely ignored him.

Naruto released a breath of irritation and returned his eyes to the bird. He had been a bit put out that he would miss seeing the Yellow Flash in action, but if they could get rid of pony-tail they might make it back in time to see something. But the Fourth was ridiculously strong and Naruto sort of doubted the battle would last long, especially with Rena-chan, Sakura-chan and the old lady. Although he had no idea how strong this Sasori person was, he reasoned there was no way he was stronger than the Yondaime. It was still crazy to think that he was really back.

He found that he had a deepened respect for Rena-chan, he'd always known she was strong, but he never suspected she was strong enough to master the Fourth's jutsu. She had brought somebody back to life after all, not even the Shodai could do that, as far as he knew anyway. He did remember hearing Jiraiya talk about a forbidden jutsu while they were traveling that could do the job, endo sensei or whatever, but it sounded crude and incomplete and Naruto doubted Rena-chan had used that. Besides she said she hadn't used a jutsu. Now that was some serious power. He hadn't really understood anything she'd said back in forest, but he had gotten the gist of it. Basically the forces of good and evil were actual people, or something like people and they had to act through other people and soon they were going to have a meeting that would decide everything once and for all. She'd also said they all had tasks they had to complete or they would lose. He hoped that whatever he was supposed to be doing, he was doing it right.

From the corner of his eye he noticed Kakashi-sensei lower his hands from where they'd been locked in the seal, and he moved to lift his hitae-ate, uncovering his Sharingan.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in appraisal.

Kakashi immediately trained his eye on the enemy, and after a few seconds, a strange spinning disturbance distorted the air.

~*~

"ANBU huh?" Sasori muttered at seeing the tattoo that adorned the girl's arm. "I should've expected as much."

As soon as she stepped forward, Sakura and Chiyo did the same, and Sasori appraised them with disinterest.

"You might as well stay out of this, I have no interest in poor quality specimens." He said.

"I think you need to be reminded of how to use good manners Sasori." Chiyo said.

She then reached her hands into her sleeves and pulled out several kunai that were threaded along a string of chakra and after only a couple of seconds they shot towards Sasori.

As expected, he blocked them with his tail and the sharp ring of metal on metal pierced the air, but Chiyo quickly altered the kunai's direction to tear through the cloak that covered him.

Rena knew what Hiruko looked like under the cloak where he stood on all fours, but the others aside from Minato—who seemed to be unshakable—gave a slight start. A grotesque looking mask formed the shell on his back and on his left arm was an odd looking contraption. His tail stirred menacingly above him, and the clicking sound that was unique to puppets pervaded the air.

"Do you know how I make my collection?" He questioned, and then continued without waiting for a response.

"First, I pull out the organs, then after I've washed the body nice and clean I extract the blood. Once I've prepared the body so it won't decay, I fill it with hidden weapons. And then it becomes a complete addition to my puppet collection."

"Steady…" Minato murmured, noticing Sakura's disgusted expression, not doubting she was fighting the inherent survival urge to bolt in the face of such an ominous, blood-thirsty opponent.

"This form you see, Hiruko, is part of my collection. And with the addition of the Yellow Flash and the ANBU operative added I'll have exactly three-hundred in my collection. That is my art!"

"Art huh?" Chiyo muttered and the others looked at her with questioning expressions.

"Back when he was in Suna, he was considered a master craftsman and he built several excellent puppets. But he devoted most of his energy into turning people into puppets and collecting them. He calls that art." She said the last word with absolute disgust. "And that puppet Hiruko used to be a shinobi from another village. He was turned into that form you see there by Sasori. He turned into a human puppet while still maintaining his original human form. Hiruko is a puppet with great attack and defense ability, and like Rena over there said, we first need to extract Sasori from him."

"How do we go about that?" Sakura asked, watching the puppet Hiruko very closely.

"The most frightening thing about puppets is their hidden weapons. If we can't figure out what they are, we won't be able to tell where and how he'll attack."

"But Chiyo-baasama you know a lot about the workings of that puppet. That gives us the edge."

"Yes, but that has a different form from the Hiruko puppet I knew. He didn't have a shell like that on his back, so he probably has a better ability to guard now and this is the first time I've seen that left arm. In which case, his most important hidden weapon mechanism might also have been improved."

"So what do we do?" Sakura asked.

"In order to defeat him, we must first destroy Hiruko. However, I do not have that kind of destructive power." Chiyo responded, "But you Sakura, do. That incredible strength Tsunade-hime personally taught you. "

Minato looked impressed by that bit of information and Rena smiled, knowing where the conversation was going.

"Listen carefully Sakura. We'll get you close to him, and then smash that puppet with all your strength."  
Sakura tightened her fists and nodded.

"However, to get close you'll have to dodge all of his hidden device attacks, every single one perfectly. You must avoid getting even one scratch, as Rena said, due to the poison that undoubtedly coats all of his weapons. In order to dodge his attacks, you must figure out the tricks to the hidden weapons of the master craftsman's puppet. And you must also be able to immediately assess how to dodge his attacks."

Sakura looked stricken at that, unsure of herself. "I don't think I can do either at all…"

"That may be so. In order to do that, a lot of actual battle experience is required, which all the rest of us have."

Sakura looked a bit perplexed, and then glanced reflexively at the rest of their party. Of course Minato-san was a former Kage, and Rena was a member of the ANBU Black Ops and her battle experience far exceeded Sakura's own due to the missions and training she'd had to endure despite their age gap of only 2 years. Not only that, but Rena seemed to have detailed knowledge on Sasori's puppets so that would help exponentially. She suddenly felt very inferior.

"Then how can I..?" she questioned.

"What do I look like to you? An unreliable old bag?" Chiyo asked in a good-natured tone, and moved to remove her headband and undo the bun atop her head, swishing her hair back and forth so that it lay flat once the tie came loose.

"Just leave it to me, that's why I'm here after all. I have much more battle experience than any of you, including him, and he knows it. That's why he hasn't attempted to attack carelessly. Besides, I already made the first move."

Minato watched the exchange with interest, he had ample faith in the woman, and he knew just how keen her ability was because he'd fought against that formidable wit first hand.

Chiyo motioned for Sakura to move closer, and began speaking in a hushed tone.

Minato strained to hear what was being said, but Chiyo had a hand hovering over her mouth on the off chance that Sasori could read her lips.

"She plans to attach chakra threads to Sakura herself and maneuver her like she would a puppet in order for her to dodge his hidden weapons." Rena explained, already knowing, speaking loud enough for him to hear, but no so loud that Sasori would and like Chiyo, she did so with a hand over her mouth.

The blond Hokage nodded with understanding.

Sasori watched them with deep suspicion, wondering what they were planning. As much as he hated to admit it, Chiyo-baa had great ability and a sharp mind, not to mention much more battle experience than himself. His eyes then shifted to the former Hokage. He however, would pose the biggest threat. Sasori had heard of his abilities, and numbers would mean nothing in the face of an opponent like the Yellow Flash.

Sasori considered his options. The odds were definitely against him, he was outnumbered and he had not counted on a dead man showing up. Particularly not this dead man. Namikaze Minato had enough personal ability to take on Sasori alone and be evenly matched with him. He considered that bit of information and paired it with the fact that the white haired girl was an ANBU operative and her abilities were unknown to him, Chiyo-baa's own prowess with puppets would turn out to be an irritating obstacle and the pink-haired girl's strength certainly posed a problem.

What to do, what to do. He certainly didn't want to appear weak by retreating, but he wasn't altogether sure he'd be able to win a battle with these four working together against him. The wheels in his brain whirred as he calculated his best move.

Minato closed his eyes, he could feel the tag that sat behind Sasori. He smiled, Chiyo had already made the first move, and a smart one at that. He had told them not to use the kunai he'd given them until he told them to, but Chiyo had utilized hers in a phenomenal way. Apparently she had put a henge on it to make it look like an ordinary kunai, so it blended in with the others that had been strung along the chakra thread. There was suddenly a much faster way to do this…

Suddenly Minato disappeared from view, Sakura briefly felt a hand on her back and then she felt herself hurtling through crushing darkness and then all of sudden, in a split second, she was standing behind Sasori with Minato at her back, his arm extended so that his palm sat on her upper back and his other had forming a seal. Immediately she knew what had just happened and before Sasori could even have time to process what was going on, she pulled her fist back and slammed it into Hiruko with all the force she could muster.

~*~

Naruto stared up at the whirling disturbance in awe.

Kakashi's face was contorted with intense concentration as he trained his eye on the enemy.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, this was the first time he'd seen anything like this. Obviously the man had managed to awaken the Mangekyou and that left Sasuke completely baffled. According to not only Itachi, but the Nakano Shrine, the only way to obtain the Mangekyou was to kill your closest friend and he highly doubted Kakashi had killed any of his friends. That meant there had been another way and Sasuke made a mental note to ask the man about it at a later time. Apparently there was still something he could learn from Kakashi.

Deidara weaved through the air, trying desperately to avoid Kakashi's gaze, but that eye followed his every move.

"Naruto, let's move." Sasuke said, and with a nod from his teammate, they began to scale the wall of chasm, moving away from Kakashi to set up the second part of the plan.

Kakashi clenched his teeth, the jutsu was draining his stamina and chakra at an alarming rate, and the man threw himself entirely into trying to get the Akatsuki member within his line of sight long enough to pull him into that other dimension before he over exhausted himself. Unfortunately Deidara was exceptional at evasion and Kakashi felt the man's right arm sever as Kakashi reached his limit and the portal closed.

If he couldn't capture Deidara entirely, taking his arm was the next best thing considering he was already missing his left arm and he was now incapable of any jutsu.

However Kakashi decided that wasn't enough. He had to try again. He opened his eye and trained it back on Deidara. He knew if he continued, it would land him in the hospital, but damn it, he couldn't let Deidara go.

The spinning disturbance filled the air again and Kakashi moved to run through the trees, following the bird. However Deidara proved hard to pin down and avoided and evaded to the best of his ability.

Kakashi, feeling the strength drain almost completely from his body, stopped on a branch and focused instead on bringing the bird down as he didn't have the chakra to try and pull the man into the void entirely.

After one more push, the bird finally crashed through the trees, but managed to get it's bearings at the last moment and soared away.

Kakashi cursed under his breath, but he could do nothing more, he struggled to stay standing as it were. However he knew the bird was in the vicinity of Sasuke and Naruto and he'd just have to leave it to them.

~*~

Minato and Sakura moved back where Chiyo and Rena were standing, assessing the cloaked figure that had jumped from the wreckage of Hiruko.

Chiyo stared intently, she'd waited for this moment for years. Although she had hoped it would've been under different circumstances that she would be reunited with her grandson. Oh well, it couldn't be helped, Sasori had chosen his path. It broke her heart, but she knew he had to be terminated.

Flashes of the fight between Sakura, Chiyo and Sasori played themselves in Rena's head as she stared at the cloaked figure. The first thing he'd done was break out the Sandaime Kazekage, and that could be overcome with Sakura's strength. However with how things had so radically deviated from the path she'd known, there was no way to know for sure that that was the plan of action Sasori would decide upon.

Rena glanced at Sakura and Chiyo, she already knew what the woman was planning in regards to Gaara, was there an advantage to keeping her here instead of sending her and Sakura after Gaara now? Was there a possibility that she could revive Gaara and stay alive herself since she was at full strength?

Rena's eyes moved back to Sasori. What was the best plan of action? Chiyo's puppets had certainly been an advantage when it had just been her and Sakura against Sasori, but now with herself and Minato here, numbers would count for nothing. She knew that she herself, would not be able to feel the puppets, but Minato could and he'd cut them down faster than Sasori could move them. She had yet to master Hiraishin, but between herself and Minato, they could defeat Sasori. But would Chiyo consent to leaving it them?

"Chiyo-baasama." Rena said, moving to stand beside the woman. "I think it may be best if you and Sakura went and assisted Kakashi-senpai and the others. If you aid Gaara at your full strength, will there be a chance that you'll survive?"

Chiyo looked at the girl in surprise, how had she known that's what she'd been planning? It appeared she would need to instruct Suna's intelligence unit to get as much information on this strange white-haired kunoichi. Her odd ability to know things she couldn't have possibly known was just a tad too unsettling to be left alone. Chiyo wanted to trust Konoha, but old habits die hard and all that.

Chiyo then looked over at Sasori, who'd removed the cover from his face and stood watching them silently. The man who stood before her looked like her grandson, but he was not the same boy she'd known. There was no way he should look so young, and his eyes were completely dead and emotionless. That was not her Sasori.

She could see the point Rena was making, and from the way the girl analyzed their enemy, she already knew his secrets. Chiyo felt a chill up her spine as the question of just how she knew ran through the woman's mind.

"I don't know." She responded finally. "It's never been done before. Are you sure you two will be alright?"

"We'll be fine. I'll ask Sakura for the vials before you go. Hopefully, we won't need them, but he's clever." Rena replied, her hand over her mouth.

Chiyo nodded.

Rena then glanced at Minato and Sakura to see if they'd heard, and with subtle nods from each of them, Rena moved to walk behind Sakura, who dropped the vials into her hand as she passed so that Sasori could not see.

"We leave it to you." Sakura said to the both of them, and then she and Chiyo moved swiftly out of the cave in the direction Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke had taken.

"You know I haven't sensed that back up yet." Minato remarked, turning to face their enemy.

Rena sighed, and let that other awareness race across the land in every direction, spreading it as far as it would stretch. Nothing.

"No. Where are they?"

"I don't know, but for now we've got bigger problems." He retorted, blue eyes narrowing in observation of Sasori, who stood silently watching, also assessing.

"He has the third Kazekage." Rena said in a quiet voice.

Minato threw her a sidelong glance. The Sandaime Kazekage…

"How?"

"Murdered him then turned him into one of this puppets. So the magnetism of that sand is going to be an issue. He's soaked it in that poison of his and we only have two antidotes. It can be countered by Iron Fist, until we can get close enough to destroy the puppet."

Minato thought for a moment.

"Can you use Iron Fist?" He asked.

"I know the theory, but I've never had reason to use it or train for it. I don't know how to control the backlash, my bones would get shredded."

"So we just need to counter the sand until there's an opening to destroy the puppet itself…"

"Yeah."

"I've still got the tag over there, if we can just get close enough to tag him…it'll all be over."

"There's a good chance he knows about the tag."

"It doesn't matter," Minato replied with a smirk, "my movements are too fast to be detected, even if he knows he's tagged there isn't a thing he can do to evade my attacks."

Suddenly Sasori moved, quickly pulling a scroll from inside his cloak and undoing it. There was a puff of smoke and the familiar visage of the Sandaime Kazekage appeared, the chakra threads attached to it glowing as Sasori moved into a defensive position.

"I was hoping he'd decide to stay." Minato said before disappearing abruptly.

His speed was absolutely remarkable. He appeared behind Sasori where the disguised kunai lay, quite literally in the blink of an eye. Sasori barely had time to flinch before Minato landed a kick into the side of the puppet that lay draped over Sasori's back, sending it hurtling into the far stone wall and shattering to pieces. It wasn't Iron Fist, but it was enough.

He hadn't bothered to tell Rena about his plan, he could tell she was a smart girl and would figure it out. Minato wasn't a man that liked to stand around idly for too long. He was a man of action and he preferred to get down to the nitty gritty as quick as possible and this fight was taking far too long to get under way.

Once Sasori had a second to realize what was going on, he quickly moved away from the man, but Minato caught a glimpse at his eyes before he moved several meters away. The eyes were that of a puppet, but somehow, there was still something that flashed through them once he saw the reason for Minato's famed nickname: fear.

Sasori cursed. How had he not thought to change his position once the damned man and pink haired whelp appeared behind him and smashed Hiruko? That speed was inhuman. There would be no way to map his attacks, not when he could move faster than the fucking speed of light. Sasori now knew that if the Yellow Flash managed to tag him, even retreat would be hopeless. Now that he really saw what Namikaze Minato was capable of, it truly dawned on him that for once in what felt like forever, he found himself outmatched. Sasori realized, much to his chagrin that he may have to retreat before the man could put a tag on him. He cursed again, that kind of power should've stayed dead.

Minato's eyes narrowed, he could tell from his opponent's face that he was going to run.

There was a flash of white at the corner of his eye, and when he blinked again, Rena stood behind Sasori, her face was pale, she looked like she'd just had the wind knocked clean from her lungs, but her hand was planted firmly on the back of Sasori's head. There was a smile on her face.

"Got you motherfucker." She said.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

When the hills let go  
Slowly fade into the water like some ancient lover  
On a ship filled with ghosts  
It's something to behold

~*~

Rena stood behind Sasori, the breath had been crushed from her lungs and she felt like she was going to puke, but she felt victory's adrenaline coursing through her body. She'd done it, she'd cracked Hiraishin—well, not technically—she had no idea what she'd even done, but after Minato had destroyed the puppet, she could tell Sasori was considering retreat and there was just no way she could allow that to happen. She didn't know why, but she knew they had to take Sasori and take him alive. She had an inkling that it had something to do with this prophecy, gut instinct had a habit of turning out to be something more than mere gut instinct.

She noticed Minato's eyes were on her, a bit surprised. She knew he must be as confused as she was, sure she'd done something right in order to have successfully used Hiraishin, but the problem was, there was no tag in this area. So how had she done it? Was it a fluke? She had been aiming for the disguised kunai, but she supposed she'd overshot it. Did she land in this position by accident? There was no more time to think about it. As soon as Minato recovered, he moved and in the blink of an eye he was standing in front of Sasori, a hand on his chest. Tagged.

~*~

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted as he and his clones stood over the opening they'd made in the dragon's head.

He knew Gaara was gone, but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit that he'd failed.

"Why is it always you?" He murmured, his voice cracking as the tears fell.

He stepped back as his clones moved to lift Gaara's body from its clay prison.

Sasuke suddenly appeared beside Kakashi, his expression solemn.

"He got away." He said, referring to Deidara. It pissed him off, but the obnoxious man had escaped even him. Underestimating the man had been terribly erroneous of him. Evading the Sharingan was a real feat.

Kakashi only nodded from where he sat on the branch, observing his student's struggle to not only admit that his friend was dead, but to get his emotions under control.

"I need you to do something." He said in a low tone. He dipped his hand into his kunai pouch and pulled the small piece of paper with a seal adorning the front and handed it up to Sasuke.

"I'm sure you remember what happened at the Valley of the End, to Naruto that is."

"The red chakra." Sasuke said, he remembered that all too well.

"Yeah. It happens whenever he gets too upset and can no longer control the Kyuubi's chakra. It's possible that it'll happen again here. I can't move, so if he loses control, you need to get close enough to him to get that tag on his forehead. That'll suppress the Kyuubi's chakra, but you have to do it fast, before too many tails appear or he'll be impossible to get to and when he's like that he can't distinguish between friend and foe."

"I understand."

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun!" Came Sakura's voice.  
Sasuke whipped around, hoping to see Rena approaching with them, but she was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?" He questioned as soon as his teammate and the old woman landed beside them on the branch. His stomach suddenly dropped with the fear that Rena wasn't with them because she'd been killed.

"Rena-taicho and Minato-san told us to come and help you guys," She replied, throwing a concerned glance at Kakashi after his weary wave.

"So you just left them?" He asked, his tone going a bit darker.

"It was an order." Sakura replied defensively, recognizing his tone. "Besides, they won't lose. He's the fourth Hokage, and Rena-taicho is ANBU. I don't know what she was like when you were training her, but she doesn't need your protection anymore Sasuke-kun." Sakura told him, her expression knowing as her emerald eyes bored into his own black.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes reflexively. They had been apart for three years and she was still able to read him with unsettling accuracy. He hated it.

They stared at each other for a second longer, and then Sasuke broke the stare-down and turned back to where Naruto and his clones were, deciding to drop it for the time being.

They watched Naruto for a while longer, looking for any signs that he might be losing grip, but once he realized that no amount of shouting his friend's name would make any difference, he slid down the trunk of the tree and sat there, slouched over and cradling his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth.

"He's really upset…" Sakura said.

"He's too sensitive." Sasuke replied, his tone snide.  
Sakura glowered at him.

"Too sensitive is much better than too insensitive. If I remember correctly who's the one who ran off to Orochimaru so he could get the power to kill his brother because he murdered his entire family? If that's not sensitive I don't know what is" She growled, not caring if she hit any nerves, she'd had enough of his proud hypocrisy.

After glaring at him for a second longer, she moved to where Naruto was and sat beside him, whispering softly.

Sasuke stood completely rigid. She had no right to be talking about that, but there was no point in arguing however, she'd ended the conversation when she moved away, so he silently seethed.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, there was a shout behind them and they turned to see the Fourth and Rena moving toward them.

Sasuke finally let himself breathe now that he knew she was alright, she looked a bit unsettled and pale, but otherwise unharmed. The Fourth was watching her, with slight worry in his eyes. That caused Sasuke's stomach to drop, what was wrong?

"Would you quit that?" Rena said, turning to him once they landed where the others had gathered beneath the trees. "I'm fine. I'm not going to collapse or anything."

"That jutsu uses a huge amount of chakra." Minato said, his tone as concerned as the look on his face.

"Thanks for the hot tip." Rena said dryly, "I'm fully aware of how much chakra it uses. I'm fine."

Minato nodded, but still wore the worried expression, brushing off the snippy tone. However he'd known many ninja who would wave away serious damage because they were too proud to admit they over did it, or took on something they couldn't completely handle yet. However Rena seemed tough, they'd only known each other for a short time, but she'd shown incredible stamina and physical endurance. He wasn't sure how much of it was actually legitimate endurance and how much of it was just personal will power.

"Did you…" Kakashi said, leaving the question hanging.

"No. We captured him." Rena replied.

"Captured?" Chiyo said, walking over from where she had been kneeling beside Gaara.

"Yeah," the Fourth replied, pulling a scroll from his kunai pouch. It was small and black, with strange red seals spider-webbing across it. It was bound by a thick red cord.

"Rena sealed him."

"I didn't know you knew any sealing jutsus." Kakashi responded, trying to move to his feet, but cringed visibly.

"You shouldn't have used it for so long." Rena said, ignoring his comment about fuinjutsu and rushing to catch the man before he fell over. She gave him a very pointed look, signifying she knew exactly why he was so weak.

"One of us is going to have to carry you, you know."

"I'll be fine."

"Oh bullshit. You can't even stand Kakashi." She replied. "You know you're going to be spending a long time in the hospital bed when we get back."

Kakashi's eye darkened, "I'm not going to the hospital." He replied in a sour and otherwise unquestionably authoritive tone that usually put the fear of God in lower ranked ninja and even other Jonin, but Rena wasn't afraid of him and his tones. According to her, he could pull rank or try to be as intimidating as he wanted, he was still harmless in her eyes. Irritating and impossible to figure out, but harmless.

"Yes you are, and don't give the nurses a hard time just because you like to over exert yourself." Rena told him.

Kakashi stared at her for a second as his heart warmed. She was scolding him, but he could see the underlying concern for him beneath the tough exterior. He tightened his arm around her, just trying to make sure that she was truly there and that he wouldn't blink and find her gone. The last time he'd been totally nerve wracked over the well-being of a woman was…well when Rin was alive. He'd let himself love her, and then she was gone. He'd then vowed that he'd never again let himself get so close to anyone again. Until now that is. He'd been afraid of taking the risk of loving and then having to deal with loss. However, Rena was a risk he'd take every time.

Every molecule in his body was attuned to her, from the slight shifting of her shoulders as she breathed, to where her arm was wrapped around his shoulders, to the sounds of her words as they flowed into his ears. She was rambling on about his numerous shortcomings and just generally getting on his ass about over exhausting himself, but he didn't care. He was tuning her out, caught up in her presence. She always said he never listened, but that wasn't true, he may space out sometimes, but he always listened; people just didn't seem to grasp that he was completely capable of multitasking. She was glaring at him now, lamenting about how he never listens, but he didn't mind. He was perfectly content to just stare at her, glad that she was close again. He didn't particularly think about what he was doing, it was just…subconscious. There was a faint voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that he was expressing too much for their current setting and company, but he did was he was best at: he ignored it.

Rena noticed the soft, prolonged, almost tender look, but didn't make any remarks or ask any questions. There wasn't any need for words between them, not anymore. Although she cared for Kakashi and she knew that he cared for her, she wasn't sure if it was in either of their best interests to pursue anything beyond what they already had. While she knew Kakashi would open his life and soul to her, she wasn't sure that she could do the same for him. And then there was the matter of Sasuke to be dealt with. She wasn't looking at him, but she didn't miss the very faint look of displeasure that crossed his face because of the way Kakashi was looking at her.

Rena was at a complete loss, she had no idea what to do. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt anyone. She and Sasuke hadn't spoken a word to each other since that day in the hospital, except for mission orders that is. She could tell he was doing his best to banish the jealousy that he felt, but what she couldn't figure out was why he'd be jealous in the first place. He'd never seen her as anything but an annoying obligation, or so she thought. He'd never said anything or shown any outward indication that he felt anything for her, and now he was getting jealous over what didn't even yet exist between herself and Kakashi. If he was that upset about it, why hadn't he said anything? However, if there was anything Sasuke was great it, it was not sharing his feelings when he should. He wasn't a very soft or emotional person anyway, at least not on the outside. But she knew underneath that concrete casing, there was a softer side and upon remembering how over the edge his pursuit of revenge had driven him in the alternate timeline that she knew, she was determined to make sure that never happened. There was a lot that needed to be resolved between them before the tension caused the rift between them to grow beyond repair.

She hadn't forgotten about how she'd felt about him, or about the way his particular aura felt across her skin and she'd never forget why she'd done all of this in the first place. Of course she'd never forget any of that, but so much had changed. She'd been denying it for months, but it all became clear when Sasuke came back; when her knowledge and the advantage it provided was rendered useless. Things were changing, for the better or worse who knew, and Rena found that her heart had changed with it. Not that she didn't love Sasuke anymore or that she didn't care for Kakashi, but she couldn't find any of it. She knew it was still there, but the steel had moved beyond her mind, to also occupy her heart. The steel that you grow to protect yourself from all the horror and death was crushing her sympathy, compassion, remorse and love down so hard, it was nearly completely gone. So as if things weren't complicated enough, she had to deal with emotional detachment.

"How's Naruto?" Minato asked, looking toward where Sakura was still comforting the blond.

"He's taking it hard, as we all expected. In his eyes, Gaara is his brother and the bond couldn't have been stronger even if they were blood. They understood each other in a way that nobody else could. That and Naruto can't stand breaking a promise. He made a promise and in the end he wasn't able to fulfill it, and that itself is what's crushing him. We all get on him because he's gullible, loud, dense, and a little bit slow, but Uzumaki Naruto is the most dependable, driven, reliable, loyal, solid, good-natured, genuine, strong, unwavering man I have ever known. He is the very embodiment of The Will of Fire." Rena said, throwing a glance at Minato, who smiled gratefully at her run down of what Naruto was like. She had subtly explained to Minato that his son was a great man, and he should be proud. And he was.

"We need to move him to an open space." Chiyo said quietly, looking at Gaara's body. "I can't do what needs to be done in the middle of a forest."

~*~

The Kazekage woke with a start, everything was a bit bleary and it took him a minute to get his bearings. He was laying in the midst of a group of Sand-nin, many of whom were crying and shouting happily. But why?

Oh that's right, he'd died. Flashes of the Akatsuki, the battle in Sunagakure and the extraction ran through his mind like a movie. Then Naruto was there, the blond was looking at him with extreme relief and joy and there were tear stains on his face.

"What's going on?" He asked, still mildly shocked at just how many people were there and how glad they were that he was okay. He still wasn't used to having people care about his well-being instead of being dead afraid of him.

"You really scared us for a second, don't ever die again okay?" Naruto responded, which a good-natured smack at the man's shoulder.

Gaara took a minute to look around, he recognized Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura and was that…? It was, Uchiha Sasuke stood beside Sakura where she sat on the grass, an unconscious Chiyo-baasama in her arms, her expression somber. What happened?

"Chiyo-baachan fixed you up! She's really exhausted and fell asleep but she should be okay!" Naruto said happily looking up at where the woman and Sakura sat. However judging by the saddened faces of Sakura and a white-haired Leaf ANBU that he didn't recognize, Chiyo-baasama was more than just exhausted, and that fact had yet to hit Naruto.

"I see."

He moved to stand and Naruto shifted to help him, but he waved it away, wanting to do this on his own. Once steady on his feet, he walked over to where Chiyo-baasama was and knelt down. He looked at Sakura, his gaze questioning. After a second, she nodded silently, confirming what he'd feared.

The great Chiyo, legendary puppeteer of Sand was dead, having given her life in exchange for his. There were no words that could describe the grateful admiration he felt at that moment. This woman who'd always brushed off the village as something that was no longer her responsibility had made the ultimate sacrifice for it. Her memorial would do her justice, he'd be sure of it.

~*~

The Kazekage's plight was over and things had settled down in the ensuing weeks. The Fourth had decided to let Tsunade keep her position as Hokage so he could have time getting used to things and he mainly spent his time training or on missions with Kakashi and Rena. The three had sort of self-formed their own squad and they had become a very tight-knit group. Surprisingly, no one questioned it, but nobody was really going to question the Fourth, or Tsunade for that matter. There had been no reason for them not to be in a squad, they worked extremely well together, they knew each other's fighting styles in and out and they compensated flawlessly for each other's weaknesses. There wasn't an obstacle that they couldn't overcome between the three of them. They undoubtedly became Konoha's most efficient and feared team; they were so in tune with each other that they scarcely even needed to speak with each other when it came to battle. Other shinobi who'd been dispatched with them said it was a remarkable thing to witness. Some had even started called them the new Legendary Three, however all three of them did their very best to diffuse that before it had a chance to stick.

The shockwave that swept through the village at the Yondaime's return had been staggering and shinobi and civilians alike had gathered in droves to see him those first few days. It had been a bit difficult to explain everything to Tsunade and the council when they returned, and it had taken several hours, but once everything was understood, it went smoother than they all had hoped.  
No one could understand how Minato was able to stand it all, but he had been very calm and collected throughout the entire ordeal and took the time to talk to as much people as he could, often staying out very late to talk to very last of the crowds. It was apparent that he had missed the village as much as it had missed him. They were a bit let down to know that he would not be resuming his position as Hokage, but the village practically brimmed with delight at having him back, there had even been a festival thrown in his honor, to which he responded with the usual polite modesty. After about two weeks the shock and excitement had died off and he found that he had an easier time of moving around the village and he spent quite a lot of his leisure catching up with his old friends, who had aged while he looked the same as he had all those years ago. It was unnerving to say the least, but they'd all managed to work their way around it. Surprisingly, nobody really questioned how he'd come back from the dead, they'd all figured it would be explained to them if need be. Everyone was just glad to have him back.

When he decided that he was ready to start taking missions, it had been quite alien to be standing on the opposite side of the Hokage's desk receiving orders instead of giving them. The only difference was that Tsunade never really ordered him to do anything, more often than not she simply asked him and she never carried an authoritive tone with him. Although he was quite a bit younger than herself, and she still called him 'kid' occasionally, it was evident that she held a great respect for him after what he'd done for the village, and she often requested his council.

Tsunade was honestly very fond of the man, he was a thoroughly professional sort of fellow—solid, unassuming, extremely intelligent. He boasted none of the vile, unsavory tastes or habits of his teacher, his student or his son. He was sober, punctual and very polite. Tsunade often found herself wondering how in the world Naruto turned out the way he did, and then she remembered Uzumaki Kushina and it all made perfect sense. The boy may have looked like his father, but he was definitely his mother's son. From the loud, obnoxious laugh, unwarranted outbursts, hyper, rambunctious personality and right down to the intimate relationship his foot had with his mouth, there was no doubt he was her child.

Tsunade had been given all of the details of Minato's return, including the bit about how Naruto wasn't to know that Minato was his father, at least not yet and she could tell how much it pained the man to be restricted from telling Naruto about his parentage. However despite that, she could tell that he was immensely proud of his son, and delighted to know that he had found a mentor in Kakashi and Jiraiya.

Things were finally settling down, and everyone basked in that peaceful glow for as long as they could, because the Akatsuki and Orochimaru were still at large and they all knew a storm was coming.

When they returned from Suna, the matter of what to do about Orochimaru had come up and Tsunade had elected to not pursue him so soon on Rena's suggestion since before, the only reason for the mission had been finding Sasuke and that was no longer relevant. Provoking Orochimaru would do nothing but get people killed. When they finally went after him, it would have to be with finesse and delicacy. He was a member of the Legendary Three after all, he wouldn't be taken down so easily. However they knew after Sasuke's escape he must have been forced to find a new vessel and he was now at full power. It would be another three years before he would be vulnerable to attack once more and there was no doubt in anybody's mind that he would attack Konoha before that if they didn't strike first. Being that Rena's knowledge of how things would pan out was now totally useless, she couldn't predict how Orochimaru would move and Sasuke gave as much input as he could, but it wasn't much, mainly the locations of bunkers and names of shinobi loyal to Orochimaru. However he protested against sending squads to flush out the hideouts as the number and power of the inmates kept there was unknown and the vast majority of them had the curse mark. So they could do nothing but keep an eye on him for the time being.

Sasuke found himself wondering occasionally about Suigetsu and Karin and how differently things might have gone if he hadn't been impeded in his plans.

He intentionally omitted them from the intel he gave about the hideouts, as he might need them in the future. He sometimes considered asking Rena of the future she'd seen, but somehow he never got around to it, it was hard to find her alone and he didn't feel particularly comfortable talking about such things with the others around to butt in on his business. No matter how much he watched her—and he always watched her—he couldn't get a good reading on her. She'd learned to mask her true emotions expertly and she rarely spoke to him. At first he'd attributed it to how busy she was, she was an ANBU operative after all and her schedule was full. However they'd seen each other on multiple occasions out having lunch or dinner with Naruto and Sakura and sometimes others from the original Rookie Nine and of course the Fourth.

However every time they'd had outings like that she'd been with Kakashi. He still hadn't given himself over to thinking about that on a serious level. They were teammates and both were Hunters so it was only natural that they were close to a certain level, but it freaked him out a bit at just how close they were. If one was not looking for signs of a more…intimate relationship, they would be missed altogether, but Sasuke's eyes missed nothing. He caught glances here, slight brushes of fingertips there, just barest hint of a smirk. It could have just been his jealous imagination (he had finally admitted to himself that he was jealous after all, but he'd die before he ever admitted it out loud, he still had his pride after all) but it seemed to him that the two were much friendlier than either of them let on or that anyone besides Naruto seemed to notice, but Naruto had always been incredibly intuitive despite how lacking he was in the brains department.

Minato it seemed, noticed as well, and Sasuke often caught the man observing his two teammates with just faintest hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes.

If they did have something deeper going on, it wasn't a surprise that they were keeping it very low key, both of them were very guarded about their personal lives. Sasuke figured that came with the kind of job they had and he was the exact same way so he couldn't really say too much about that. He hated people prying into his personal life so he could understand their distance. However they were distant with everyone but each other and the Fourth, and Sasuke wondered if it was a product of how much they worked together, relying so much on each other as fellow ninja that it just carried over into their personal lives or if it had developed separately. He also took into account that while they were both elite ninja, Kakashi had a certain status that made him a public figure in a way, no matter how much he despised it and the village watched him very closely. Not only was he watched by the higher-ups of the village, but by legions of kunoichi and Sasuke was sure that if it ever came out that Konoha's most eligible bachelor was off the market, the rumors would fly and Rena would be subjected to all sorts of nastiness, cattiness and gossip by countless women who were hot for the Copy Ninja. However he couldn't see Rena being bothered in least by any of it and he doubted anyone would try a physical confrontation, she was an ANBU operative after all and after the fight with Sasori, everyone was scared shitless of her anyway.

Not only that, but the Yondaime was very protective over her, almost like a father or an older brother and from the sharp, warning looks he'd directed toward those who threw Rena dirty looks or sneered in her direction, any kind of slander or unsavory rumors would not be tolerated and nobody had the guts to test him.

Sasuke suddenly felt a deep wrenching pain twisting around in chest and his throat burned as he sat gazing out the window of his apartment. He was losing her. He never particularly gave much thought to having her before, and he regretted it. She was forming a life that he was gradually becoming less and less a part of and it hurt tremendously. He didn't want to admit that he had developed feelings for her, but the emotions that were welling up inside him were far too painful for him to just dismiss.

Letting her go to Konoha had been a tremendous mistake. No—it hadn't been. Rena had established herself as a splendid kunoichi and had excelled beyond all of his highest expectations. She was on almost on par with the Fourth Hokage, she had status and the respect of the village and everyone in it. He was incredibly proud of her and he only wanted to see her happy and smiling again, even if he couldn't be the reason. It was strange, caring that way for somebody else, but he couldn't help it. She was the only one who really understood him and his mission and now he was losing that.

Sasuke sighed, now that he'd sorted out his feelings, the only thing left was to figure what he was going to do. At any rate, he knew he had to talk to her alone. He wasn't thrilled about the prospect of talking about his feelings, he positively hated being vulnerable, but he had to know where they stood, even if it was just as friends, he would have to make do with it…it would have to be enough.

~*~

In the time that they'd been back, Rena had received her own legendary title as Konoha's White Fury, coined by Minato after the battle with Sasori. Much to her displeasure, Naruto, Sakura and the rest of their friends had made an occasion out of it. She hadn't quite understood why it was such a big deal, but Minato, Jiraiya and Gai had insisted it was in fact, a very big deal. It wasn't every day a ninja reached legendary status.

"But I don't understand. It wasn't that much of fight. I don't really think I did anything warranting a legendary title." Rena said, as she sat with Kakashi, Minato, Gai, Jiraiya and Asuma at a dim bar where they were 'celebrating.' However Asuma, Jiraiya and Gai were doing enough celebrating for all the rest of them.

"You sealed a member of the Akatsuki, and not just any member, Sasori of the Red Sand. Not only that but you used an extremely advanced sealing technique that even took me a good two months to get the grasp of. I still wouldn't consider myself adept enough with it to use it on somebody like that." Minato replied.

"You're just being nice. Legendary titles are great and all, but I don't want to have a title. I don't particularly fancy being put in every bingo book from here to Kumo." Rena grumbled.

Asuma laughed uproariously, "ain't that the fuckin truth!"

"I'm glad somebody agrees with me."

Everyone laughed, but Jiraiya and Minato insisted on the title despite Rena's sighs and mutterings.

They'd also insisted on a party and it was going to be huge, the entire village had been invited. When Rena found out, she had been furious and she begged them to call if off, but Minato had only laughed and told her to relax and just enjoy herself for once. They all pushed him to convince her because if anyone else (including Kakashi) talked to her like that, it would have been detrimental to their health, but for some odd reason Rena never hit the Yondaime, and she was more likely to listen to him.

It seemed Kakashi was the only one who sympathized with her and it took the combined strength of Minato, Naruto and Sakura three hours to convince him to go after they'd ambushed him while he was making his way back from the jonin compound. At first they'd tried to allure him into the idea of a flashy party, but that hadn't worked, then they had tried to bribe him and that was a bust, so they had then resorted to outright pleading and guilt tripping. Minato was very good at guilt tripping and he patiently waited for his chance.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined, walking backwards in front of Kakashi as they made their down the almost deserted late-night avenues of Konoha. "Why can't you go?"

"Parties aren't really my style." His sensei replied, not bothering to look up from his pervy book.

Naruto looked at him helplessly, then huffed and crossed his arms, looking at Sakura with an exasperated expression.

"It's the celebration for Rena's elevation as a legendary ninja. You're her…" Sakura paused, not sure if she should bring up her friend's personal information. "…teammate Kakashi-sensei, you should be there." She said with a steady but firm tone.

"If I know Rena—and I do—she doesn't even want to be there. She probably thinks it's as ridiculous as I do."

"Of course she does, but if you remember she also hates hospitals as much as you do and let's not forget that three week stint you had to tough out, and she was in that hospital room with you all day every day from start to finish. The least you could do is spend one night at a party. It's only fair Kakashi." Minato told him in that light tone he'd always carried with him.

Kakashi looked like he wanted to strangle his blond sensei, realizing now if he didn't go he'd feel like a total fucking asshole. He knew Rena wouldn't be cross with him if he didn't show up (in fact he figured he was the last person she wanted to see), however everyone else would be. He wasn't particularly concerned about being called a heartless, insensitive bastard—he did have a reputation to uphold after all—but having Minato-sensei angry with him wasn't something he liked very much.

"You just had to bring that up didn't you?" He muttered darkly.

Minato only chuckled lightheartedly and smiled with satisfaction.

"Also, it's a formal party, so you have to wear a suit." Sakura informed.

Kakashi groaned, he looked ridiculous in a suit.

~*~

When the paper thin girls  
With twisting little braids in their hair  
They take off their coats and throw  
Pebbles and stones from the side of the boat  
Crying out  
The stones they float, the stones they float  
Oh my god, the stones they float, the stones they float.

~*~

Ino strode over, arms loaded with various dresses. She dumped them next to Rena, and then stood back with her hands on her hips.

"This is ridiculous Ino." Rena grumbled from where she sat on the divan, arms crossed and clearly very irritated at being dragged along for dress shopping by Ino and Sakura.

"It's a formal party Rena and you have to wear something nice. Stop being such a bitch about this. I'm trying to keep you from committing social suicide by showing up in a goddamn jonin uniform." Ino replied, frowning at her friend.

Rena's eyes hardened and darkened into a tarnished gold as they shot toward the blonde in a warning glare, but Ino brushed it off. She wasn't afraid of Rena, at least not in a setting like this. It was true that the girl could be downright terrifying, but she had been acquainted with her long enough to know that she wasn't entirely a cold hard bitch like everyone said. However, Rena's anger took on a sinister calm and her voice went very low, drained of anything resembling human emotion. It had quite literally on certain occasions, scared the piss out of lower ranked shinobi and even Ino herself when it'd been directed at her once upon a time.

"I don't care about things like that. But, if it gets you off my ass I'll wear a damn dress. I'm not however, wearing any of those." Rena replied, jabbing an index finger at the pile of brightly colored and frankly skanky dresses that Ino had brought over.

"If I'm going to wear a dress I'm operating on my taste, not yours."

Ino groaned, her plans to get her friend into something that would give Kakashi an instant nosebleed had been foiled. She hadn't really thought Rena would consent to wear anything like that anyway, but it had been worth a try. She threw her friend a sly look.

"So, do you know what Kakashi-sensei is wearing?" She asked suggestively.

"His uniform probably." Rena replied offhandedly, completely blowing off Ino's suggestive tone.

"Oh no he's not. We already told him he has to wear a suit and Tsunade-sama already informed everyone that anyone who shows up in a uniform won't be admitted." Sakura declared, walking over to them with a pale green dress in her arms. She laid it over the back of the divan and then walked around to inspect what Ino had chosen.

"Geez Pig, we're going to a party not a strip club." She said, picking up one of the racy dresses by its hanger and examining it with a wrinkled nose.

"Can it forehead!" Ino snapped in response. "At any rate, he'll probably wear black, so anything you pick will be fine."

Rena lifted an eyebrow, "why would I care about matching with Kakashi?"

Sakura and Ino both turned to Rena.

"Well, aren't you two going together?" Sakura asked.

"Of course not," She said, as if the entire notion was ridiculous, "Kakashi is taking Shizuka." Rena informed them, getting to her feet.

"Who the hell's Shizuka?" Ino questioned, folding her arms under her breasts and shifting her weight to her other hip.

"Kakashi's girlfriend." Rena replied, her tone uncaring.

Ino and Sakura shared a shocked and very confused look. From what Naruto had been telling them—and everyone else—they were under the impression that Rena and Kakashi were an item. Could they have mistaken friendship between teammates for something more romantic? Naruto had seemed awful sure about the entire thing though, and then there was that comment Pakkun had made back in Suna about "the white-haired female Kakashi liked so much", Sakura and the rest of Team Seven had figured he'd been referring to Rena. Did they have some kind of fall out? Did Rena not feel the same? What the hell?

"Oh." Sakura answered, after recovering from her mild shock while Ino was still sputtering. "Who are you going with then?"

Rena began moving toward the other end of the shop, where the more elegant dresses were lined along the back wall, "Minato-sensei." She said over her shoulder.

Ino's eyebrows shot up at that answer. That was a surprise, although it really shouldn't have been, they were on the same team after all. But at the same time, that was the last person they expected her to be going with. The two girls walked over to where Rena was, bent on getting more information out of her about how that pairing came about.

"Did he ask you?" Ino inquired, peering at a violet number with lace around the bodice that looked like it would make her breasts look fantastic.

Rena threw the Yamanaka a suspicious glance, but answered anyway.

"Yes."

"And Kakashi-sensei is alright with it?" Sakura retorted.

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Uh…well, I mean…" Sakura stumbled, trying to avoid Rena's suspicious gaze. Damn, she had eyes that were as penetrating as Tsunade-sama's.

"What is this all about?" Rena continued, turning to face the two girls, her expression saying that she was fed up with their poor reconnoitering skills.

"Everyone thought you and Kakashi-sensei were dating." Ino replied bluntly. "Naruto has been blabbing about it for weeks."

Rena was silent. She had suspected as much, but while she had Kakashi had discussed it when they had gotten back from Suna, at a great length, and had even actually tried it for several weeks, things just hadn't worked out. What had been odd, was that Kakashi had been the one to break it off, and about a week later when he introduced Shizuka to herself and Minato-sensei, she thought she realized why. She had been so angry she nearly put the both of them through the wall. Minato-sensei had been furious with the man for days, but hadn't made any comments. Until that is, when he and Rena had left on a mission. Kakashi had been given a solo assignment, so they had been dispatched without him. Tsunade had thought it best to separate Kakashi from the other two for a while, considering tensions between the three of them were still high and it would've caused strain on teamwork.

(She also, out of spite, had given the Copy Nin the most tedious mission she could get her hands on. It was a retrieval mission for a rare medicinal plant in the swamps to the south. The fens were disgustingly humid, unbearably hot and infested with bugs that liked to bite. Not to mention the water was riddled with poisonous leeches and the swamps themselves were crawling with unsavory plants and vicious reptiles. It was an awful place to be stuck in, and the plant she needed was so rare that Kakashi would be there for at least a week before he found it. He was going to suffer and she didn't feel in the least bit sympathetic for him after what he'd pulled with Rena. She'd been appalled to find out that Kakashi had dumped her for someone else. Not only had it seemed like he really cared deeply about her, but leaving her for another woman was completely outside of his character. However, predictable was the last adjective one would use to describe Hatake Kakashi. She had also inclined Minato to try and talk to Rena, to see if he could gauge how she was handling it.)

Minato wasn't the type to pry into someone else's business, but he had been able to tell that the entire ordeal was bothering Rena, so he asked if she wanted to talk about it. Rena herself, wasn't a very emotional person, not on the outside—not anymore anyway—and she had always elected to deal with her problems by herself, but she knew that if she could talk to anyone without fear of judgment or bias, it would be Minato-sensei. She had finally dropped the cold, indifferent faade and went off on a heated tirade about Kakashi and exactly what she thought of him, utilizing several expletives in the process. She had explained that more than anything else, she was confused. What Kakashi had done was so outside of his character that it had left her reeling and struggling to understand. Minato had listened intently and without interruption. At the end he had agreed with her, but then informed her that while Kakashi seemed sure and steady on the surface, underneath it all he feared commitment. That wasn't to say that that excused what he'd done, and that didn't mean that Minato wasn't pissed at his student, because he was, but there was a level of understanding.

"No, we're not. Not anymore." Rena told her friends after a minute of reflection. She didn't really want to elaborate, but she knew that they wouldn't stop until they got every last detail. She sighed.

"What?! So you were dating? What happened?" Ino exclaimed, looking at Rena with a shocked expression. Sakura's face was similar.

"It just didn't work out."

"Oh come on Rena, why didn't it work out? We're your friends, telling us these things is why we're here!"

Rena rolled her eyes, "He broke up with me for Shizuka, sort of." She said curtly, deciding to just get straight to the point.

Both Sakura and Ino gasped, and then looked at each other in total confusion, and then the anger crossed their faces.

"That bastard! Why would he do something like that?!" Ino proclaimed in a shrill voice.

"It doesn't seem like something Kakashi-sensei would do. That's awful." Sakura commented, her expression pensive.

Rena shrugged, she'd dealt with it and it still stung a bit when she thought about it, but with Minato-sensei's help, she'd made peace with it. Making peace with Kakashi however, was proving much harder. They could now carry out missions without any difficulty, but they didn't interact with each other outside of work very often, which had been rough when Rena thought about how close they used to be. It saddened her to know it would probably never be that way again, not if Kakashi was serious about Shizuka. As it turned out, Shizuka had had no idea about Kakashi's relationship with Rena, and she decided that she wasn't going to bring it up. Rena found that she actually liked Shizuka, she was funny, upbeat and sweet and it wasn't her fault that Kakashi had been a total dickhead. She and Kakashi meshed well together, she made up for the traits that he lacked and vice versa. Rena realized later on that the reason Kakashi seemed so taken with her was because she reminded him of Rin, not only did she physically resemble Kakashi's lost teammate, but her personality was similar.

Rena figured the problem between Kakashi and herself, was that they were too similar. They were both very reserved, collected and emotionally withdrawn. So when they felt something, they both would rather keep it to themselves than share it with the other. There had been little communication and neither one opened up to the other very often. So in retrospect, it wasn't surprising that things had gone sour. Kakashi probably hadn't meant for things to go the way they did, he'd met a woman who forced him to change his perspective, who made him step outside of his comfort zone and gave him things that Rena could not. The timing of their meeting could not have been worse, because it had made Kakashi look like a two-timing piece of shit, but in fact he hadn't tried to initiate anything serious with Shizuka until he broke it off with Rena. It had just been bad luck.

It had been through lengthy conversations with Minato-sensei that Rena had come to realize all of this. The man had wisdom beyond his years and an incredible insight. It really surprised her sometimes at how smart he was.

"It's not that big of deal. There's nothing to be gained by dwelling on the past and I would appreciate it if you didn't try and bring it up with Kakashi, he feels bad enough about it."

"Well he should. That was such a scummy thing to do." Ino replied with a huff.

"I don't think he meant for things to go as bad as they did. He met her when we were still dating, but he didn't really try to move beyond friendship until after our relationship was done and over with. She's good for him."

"So are you! You're Orihara Rena, Konoha's White Fury! You're one of the strongest ninja in the village, and he's an idiot to have let you go." Ino encouraged with a winsome smile.

Rena gave her friend a small smile. "Thank you, but I'm no good for him Ino. I can't give him what he needs. This job has taken too much out of me, I don't think I have the emotional capacity to be in any kind of relationship anymore."

Ino thought for a second, "Well what about Minato-sensei? He's pretty hot, and you've been spending an awful lot of time with him lately." Ino said with a wink, and Sakura looked her with surprise, and then began to giggle at the absurdity of the idea in spite of herself.

Rena looked absolutely flabbergasted that Ino would even suggest such a thing.

"Training Ino. One doesn't master a jutsu like Hiraishin in a day. Besides that he's married, that is forbidden territory. I wouldn't dare make a move on a married man, especially someone I only see as a mentor and friend. I can't believe you."

"He was married, you didn't bring his wife back ya know. And there's nothing wrong with crushing on a teacher."

"Ino!" Sakura whispered harshly, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear her friend's blatant disregard for integrity.

"Just because she's not here doesn't mean a thing. The marriage is still very valid to him, he loves her more than anything."

Ino sighed, a guilty look passing over face. "I didn't word that right. I didn't mean any kind of disrespect, it's just…he's going to have to live the rest of his life without her and that is the saddest thing I can imagine. He's going to be awfully lonely don't you think?"

"I'm not sure that he's going to have to be without her, we don't know what the future holds."

Ino shook her head, "This whole thing is just insane! I don't understand anything anymore!" She shouted and threw her hands in the air, stomping back to the divan and her pile of dresses, fed up with the conversation.

"Anyway, we need to find you a dress. Is Minato-sensei gonna wear any specific color? It's just bad taste not to match with your date." Sakura said, scanning the dresses, a hand on her chin in thought.

Rena cringed internally at the word 'date'. It was just too weird to think of Minato-sensei as a date. 'Companion' fit better, they were going as teacher and student after all.

Rena had been pretty surprised when Minato-sensei had asked who she was going to be going to the party with after training one day. When she'd told him that she was just planning on going alone, he'd remarked that he wasn't going with anyone either and then asked if she'd like to go with him. It had been a very friendly exchange, and there hadn't been any trace of any other intent besides friendship in his voice. Rena had immediately reprimanded herself for thinking he'd mean it as anything other than two friends accompanying each other to a get together. Jumping to conclusions was a bad habit of hers.

She'd replied with a 'yeah sure why not', to which he'd smiled and nodded and then told her to meet him at dawn the next day for training. It hadn't even crossed her mind to ask him what color he was planning on wearing. Shinobi just didn't consider things like that.

"Hmm, I think we'd better stick with black for now, at least until we know what he's going to wear. I think—" Sakura said, moving to reach for a velvet floor-length gown, but was stopped when Naruto's voice pierced the air.

"Oi Sakura-chan!" He shouted from the other side of the display window where he stood waving, with Minato-sensei and Sasuke in his company. The three of them carried black dry cleaning bags that most likely contained their outfits for that night's party.

The two girls turned and Naruto rushed into the store, "Oh hi Rena-chan, I didn't see you!" Naruto addressed her happily.

"Let's see your suit Naruto! And it better not be orange…" Sakura said, pointing to the bag that was flung over his shoulder. The pink-haired girl sighed, it was probably already wrinkled…

Naruto unzipped the bag to reveal a crisp white suit with a very pale lavender button up and black bow tie.

Rena smiled, "Hinata-sama is going love it Naruto." She said, giving the blond a knowing look.

He grinned sheepishly and then chuckled nervously as he zipped it closed.

"I really hope I matched the colors right. All I had for help was the teme and he doesn't know jack about this kind of thing."

Sakura laughed and Sasuke threw his teammate a hard look.

"I know more than you dobe."

"Oh please, I don't think you've ever been on a date teme."

"Neither have you."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sakura interrupted him before he could ruffle Sasuke's feathers further.

"By the way Minato-sama, would you mind if we had a look at what you're wearing? It'll help in picking something that matches for Rena-san. She knows about as much about dresses as Naruto. No offense Rena-san." Sakura said good-naturedly.

Rena emitted a small laugh and waved it away.

Ino then pushed her way between Rena and Sakura, a bit put out that they hadn't called her over when the guys arrived.

"Let's see it Minato-sama!" She said, looking at the bag expectantly.

The former Hokage nodded, and carefully moved the bag so he could unzip it.

The suit was obviously custom tailored, made from only the highest quality fabric. The suit itself was a matte black and the lapels were cut from black satin, keeping the suit from being too monotonous. The shirt was a black polyester button-up that matched with the flat but rich black of the suit jacket. Around the neck and fit snug under the lapels hung a crisp white scarf, providing a very tasteful contrast the monochromatic color scheme. Overall it was very nice.

"Ohhh." Ino and Sakura cooed, in unison. It was probably the finest thing they'd ever seen.

"You have exquisite taste." A woman's voice said to the side of them. They turned to see the shop's owner looking appreciatively at the suit.

"Why thank you." Minato replied politely and then moved to zip the bag shut.

"Which of you is his date?" The woman inquired, looking between Sakura, Ino and Rena.

Rena raised her hand briefly. "That'd be me."

"Ahh. Would you like some help? Finding something that compliments such a fine suit like that would be a challenge for even my most fashion-savvy customer." The woman said, smiling at Ino, who positively beamed at the compliment.

"That'd be much appreciated. Ino has…interesting taste, but not the sort I'm looking for." Rena replied, throwing a wary look at the dresses that were piled on the rack next to them, which were Ino's discards.

Naruto looked at the dresses and then his eyebrows shot up with surprise that such little fabric could even be constituted as a dress. He picked up a bright teal that number that seemed to be nothing but straps and a small bit of velvet. He turned it this way and that, trying to figure out how it was even supposed to be put on.

"How do you even…" He began, staring critically at the dress.

Ino quickly snatched it from his hands, "You wouldn't understand Naruto." She said.

"I don't think I want to…" He said quietly, still frowning at the scrap of fabric she called a dress.

The shop's owner laughed and then clapped her hands. "Alright, we've got work to do here boys, so if you wouldn't mind, you can wait over there." She said, motioning to another divan in front of a set of mirrors beside the changing rooms.

Naruto groaned loudly. "Girls take forever at this stuff, if it's alright with you guys I'm going to Ichiraku."

Minato laughed, and then turned to the girls. "I think I'll join him, I won't be much help here. We'll see you all later." He said.

"Sasuke-kun will you stay? We're going to need a male opinion." Sakura asked, stopping him before he could move to follow Naruto and Minato from the shop.

He glanced outside where Naruto was chattering on about something that they couldn't hear and then decided he'd much rather be in this company than listen to that racket anymore. He nodded in response.

"Oh good!"

Sasuke didn't respond, only moved to sit on the divan, draping the bag containing his own suit across its back.

Rena had heard Sakura ask Sasuke if he'd stay and she was apprehensive about that. She and Sasuke still hadn't really talked at all. Rena had wanted to talk to him, she'd been so delighted that he was back in the beginning, but she found she didn't really know what to say to him. Memories of those months in Sound flooded back and she remembered how much she cared for him, but the feelings themselves would not resurface. Silently, she cursed the job she'd chosen. It had robbed her of everything she'd worked so hard to build up. Her empathetic, caring nature was gone now, it had been replaced with a cold, hollow resilience. There was no room for such emotions in the sinister world she'd stepped into, if she submitted to them, she wouldn't have been able to carry out her missions. It had all been necessary at the time, she had done it all for his sake. If she would have known that things would take a 90 degree turn, she wouldn't have entered ANBU at all and stayed in her jonin position.

Rena sighed, deciding to think about it later and turned to the shop owner, who introduced herself as Miyu.

They decided to stick with black and white, with the option of possibly red. Ino liked the idea of a bright red, while Sakura leaned toward a deeper crimson.

They had her try on so many dresses that Rena lost count. She personally liked all of them, but none had felt quite right yet.

It was going on three hours before the party was due to start and the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon before they came across the perfect dress.

It had a low neckline and was held up by a thin black strap that circled around her neck. It was made from a beautiful black silk. The hem of the gown hit the floor, and there was a slit over the left leg, it went high, but not so high as to be untasteful. The piece was backless and the zipper hit a few inches above her tailbone. It fit perfectly and clung and whispered when she moved. Sakura and Ino gaped at her when she stepped pushed the curtain aside.

Sasuke had been right on the verge of falling asleep. They had been at it for hours and he was almost regretting not going with Naruto and the Fourth. Rena had looked wonderful in everything they'd made her try on, but they hadn't been satisfied with anything yet. He resolved to never get roped into shopping again, he was on verge of being literally bored to tears.

And then she stepped out for the final time. Sasuke lifted his head to see what they'd chosen this time and give his customary nod, but he found he couldn't so much as breathe. His mouth had suddenly gone very dry at the sight of the girl standing before him. His palms began to sweat and he had to swallow several times. She was absolutely radiant, it was like looking at the sun.

The black silk dress was snug in all the right places, but it whispered and shifted as she moved. That dress had been made for Orihara Rena. Sasuke found that the sight had knocked higher thinking right out of his head.

"Well?" Sakura asked expectantly, looking at him, waiting for his appraisal.

Sasuke tried several times to say something, but he wasn't able to even form a sentence, he was so floored.

"He is literally speechless, that's how you know it's the one." Ino said matter-of-factly, a dazzling smile on her face as she looked Rena up and down.

"Now all we have to do is figure out what to do with your hair..."

The women all crowded around Rena assessing her wealth of white tresses, and Sasuke was robbed of his view. It was at that moment that he remembered how to breathe. He was suddenly terribly envious of Minato and kicked himself for not thinking of asking Rena first.

~*~

Naruto shifted on his feet. Ino, Sakura and Rena were fifteen minutes late. Hinata, Neji and Tenten had arrived on time and they all stood talking quietly waiting for the others to get there. It turned out the pale lavender Naruto had chosen with Sasuke's help had matched perfectly with Hinata's kimono. Apparently the teme did have an eye for color after all, but he'd be damned if he ever admitted it, he was however, going to tease him mercilessly for it after this.

Speaking of the teme, he was being particularly standoffish, as if something was bothering him, but Naruto didn't want to spoil the night by getting in a fight with his impossible teammate. He and Sakura were going together and Naruto hoped he would loosen up or Sakura was going to do some damage to his ears for being in such a bad mood and ruining it for her. But then again, Sasuke was always in a bad mood.

After a while Kakashi and his girlfriend showed up. The sight of them together still made Naruto clench his teeth. He was still very agitated with his teacher for breaking up with Rena-chan, but he had to admit this Shizuka lady was really nice and she always bought him ramen and told really good jokes. But still…

"Geez, how long are they gonna take?" Shikamaru asked. He was Ino's date and Naruto felt extremely sorry for him. He heard the boy mutter something about troublesome women but whatever he said was lost when Tenten spoke.

"Oh! They're here!" She shouted from where she was looking out the window. After a few seconds her eyes grew very wide and a huge smile slid across her face. "Wow…" She whispered.

"What?" Naruto asked, moving to push her aside so he could see, but it wasn't necessary, because they had just walked through the doors.

Ino was wearing the violet dress she'd spotted earlier and her hair was up in her familiar ponytail, except that she'd pulled all of it back so her face was clear and instead of the usual silver studs, amethyst earrings dangled from her ears. Her heels were easily six inches tall, but she walked with all the confidence of someone who'd spent hours mastering how to walk in stilettos.

Sakura had exchanged the pale green dress for an elegant crimson lace gown with a portrait neckline. She'd pinned her hair back with diamond accented silver pins and wore black lace-up heels that weren't quite so high as Ino's. Sakura knew if she wore anything like she'd twist her ankle.

They moved to stand beside their respective dates, making way for Rena, who stood at the threshold speaking quietly with an ANBU operative that hadn't been there before.

The room suddenly grew very silent and Ino and Sakura shared a long look. They could practically feel everyone's eyes grow wider. They were extremely proud of their job of turning Rena from a stone cold, frayed-at-the-edges shinobi to a soft, elegant woman. But there was a slight air of concern at the sudden appearance of an ANBU member.

They'd lightly curled Rena's hair so that it hung in loose, voluptuous waves where it cascaded down her back, accentuating the backless feature of the dress. Her bangs had been pinned back in a simple half up do. They'd convinced her to wear dangling teardrop diamond earrings and Miyu had provided a gorgeous fringed lace shawl that completed the ensemble. She wore simple black heels that were high enough to make Sakura nervous, but still shorter than Ino's choice of footwear. Surprisingly, Rena had no trouble walking in them.

Everyone stared for a good minute before Naruto whistled low and then turned to Minato, whose expression was one of awe and a bit of surprise that the girl standing before was the same one he'd been training the past two months.

"You lucky son of a gun." Naruto said in bright tone with a friendly jab to the man's ribs.

Rena continued speaking with the ANBU operative for a moment more before he bowed, uttered a curt "Understood" and then disappeared.

Rena looked slightly troubled after the operative disappeared, but she quickly recovered and turned to walk fully into the room.

"Oi Rena-chan you look incredible!" Naruto said, and everyone nodded and made sounds of affirmation at his comment.

Rena smiled, "you clean up nice yourself Naruto." She replied.

Minato moved to stand beside her and offered her his arm and with that they made their way toward the dull roar of music and voices that came from the grand hall where the party was being held.

~*~

Down the burning ropes  
Past the places where the steel beams  
Meet concrete skies  
You make your bed under the moonlight  
I think it's time we said goodbye

~*~

Jiraiya of the Legendary Three was a man with many flaws in his character. He had never been fond of physical labor and he was a bit too fond of warm sake. He was occasionally careless about the truth and had a certain grand indifference to the finer points of property ownership. The company of ladies of questionable reputation did not particularly offend his sensibilities and his choice of language very frequently left much to be desired.

Namikaze Minato, disciple of Gallant Jiraiya was a man of almost inhuman determination, when he was alive he had spent several years trying to reform his vagrant teacher, but without much notable success. Through the years he had fought a valiant battle against his bad habits. He had regretfully surrendered on the points of indolence and shabbiness and he begrudgingly gave ground on swearing and lying. He remained adamant however, even despite numerous defeats, on the points of drunkenness, thievery and whoring. When he returned from the grave, he continued that battle in full swing, much to his mentor's displeasure. However despite how disreputable Jiraiya was, it was always his council that Minato sought out when he was feeling particularly troubled about something.

When Minato had returned to village, instead of being shocked, Jiraiya had simply welcomed him back with open arms and treated him as if he hadn't died all those years ago. Minato figured if the man really put too much thought into it he might not be able to handle it very well, so he had resolved not to think about it and just accept that his student was back and take it at face value. However Minato had found it necessary to explain to Jiraiya the nature of his return as it might prove useful for the man to know in the future.

So it was at approximately 3:34 in the morning when Jiraiya heard a sharp staccato on his door and opened it to find his student standing there dressed to the nines and bleary eyed from all the alcohol he'd consumed prior. Before his untimely death, drinking had been totally out of the question with Minato, but now he found his student seeking refuge in the bottle more and more, albeit discreetly in the comfort of his own apartment.

"I need to talk with you Jiraiya." Minato said, clearly not nearly as drunk as he appeared to be.

Wordlessly Jiraiya stepped aside and gestured for Minato to come inside.

The blond man slumped down on the couch and buried his head in his hands.

"So, how was the party?" Jiraiya asked carefully, deciding to build up to the problem slowly, noting that Minato was probably feeling a bit delicate. He was the type of man who kept his emotions rigidly under control and always tended his problems himself, but when he had too much alcohol, he lost that grip on his emotions and they tended to flood to forefront. Most of the time it dealt with something he was blaming himself for, Minato was very good at blaming himself.

"It was fine, fun actually. You should have seen Rena, I almost refused to believe it was actually her, she was so stunning."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment. Minato heaved a tired sigh and continued.

"I can't do this Jiraiya, not without Kushina. I don't feel like me, at least I don't feel like who I was before…"

Jiraiya sighed from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He had suspected it had something to do with Kushina, but he hadn't been prepared for the way Minato talked about his foul-mouthed student. Jiraiya was rather fond of Rena, she may have been reserved and calm but underneath that cool exterior she had a wicked good wit and a tongue sharp as a razor.

"Of course you don't feel like you Minato. You've been through something that no man has ever gone through before, and I'd be concerned if it didn't change you in some way. But that…prophecy, said that he would bring Kushina back didn't he?"

"He was vague about it." Minato replied, removing his hands from his face and leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "But that's not it…tonight, with Rena I…" He left it hanging, not particularly wanting to say the words out loud.

"I—what you like her? That's not such a terrible thing, she's an attractive girl."

"No, it is a terrible thing, I'm married, Jiraiya and that prophecy won't listen to reason…"

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow again, "What do you mean the prophecy won't listen to reason?"

"I had been struggling with it during the party, trying to push the thoughts away and do all I could to deny it, but he made an appearance inside my head and told me to stop fighting it."

Jiraiya's expression had gone very solemn, "Go on."

"He said that what's happening is supposed to happen, that it's necessary for certain other events to unfold properly. I tried to ask him how I'm supposed to…let this…whatever it is with Rena continue when he told me that Kushina could be brought back. He said that there were consequences to a task going unfinished, that the future changes because of it. He said because the dark prophecy won in the last meeting, it eliminated the future that the prophecy of light was following at that point in time."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the future that I've always wanted with the woman that I love may never happen. The prophecy told me that while our sacrifices are great, obedience to Necessity has its reward. I don't have any idea what that means and he wouldn't tell me, he said there were things that he couldn't tell me about the future or what I'm supposed to do because it might impact the completion of the task itself."

Jiraiya pursed his lips and thought. He could see now how difficult his student's situation was. In all his life, Minato had only loved one woman, his heart belonged entirely to Kushina, she was the mother of his child. A child that he had to see every day and not be able to act as the father he'd always wanted to be, but never had the chance. Jiraiya understood how terribly painful it must be to be brought back and be denied a second chance at something that mattered as much to him as his family.

"I don't know what to do Jiraiya. I can't have my wife, I can't have my son, what purpose am I supposed to be fighting for? I don't know what any of this means and I almost wish they hadn't brought me back. The only good thing about it is being able to spend time with my son."

Jiraiya closed his eyes, he really didn't know what to tell his miserable student, and he wished he could tell this prophecy exactly what he thought about him. He had no answers, no direction, he had nothing he could give Minato in way of comfort and he felt positively helpless.

"The only choice I see here is to follow what this prophecy tells you and hope that it all works itself out in the end. We're talking about the incarnation of light, the very force of good here, he knows what he's doing and we may not like it, but we don't have very much choice in anything I'm coming to realize. Everything that's happening is preordained apparently, and if we don't want the world to be overtaken by darkness, we have to do our part, however hard it might be."

"But how I can be with someone who's not much older than my own son?" Minato asked exasperatingly, spreading his hands apart.

"Minato, you're not much older than your own son, you haven't aged a single day since last I saw you. We just have to trust that this'll all make sense in the end."

Minato groaned and then put his head in his hands again.

"Why me?"

Abruptly, they were both alerted to another presence in the room, a serene, familiar presence.

"Because it has to be you." Kushina said, from where she stood across the room, a warm smile on her face.

"Kushina…" Minato breathed, rushing to his feet. "How…?"

"He sent me. He said it was okay if I visited you for a while. Life agrees with you Mina-chan." She replied, throwing him a wink.

"I've seen our son Kushina." Minato replied, tears standing in his eyes. "He's grown so much, you'd be so proud of him."

Kushina's smile widened as her eyes began to tear.

"I'm so very glad. But Minato, I don't have a lot of time, but I want you to know that I know what you have to do, and it's okay. I've been watching her for a long time, and she's a lot like me underneath all that steel. That's why it has to be you, Kakashi wasn't able to break the steel in her soul, but you can. If she doesn't find something to fill the cold, hollow void in her, she won't be able to complete her task and everything will be lost. Do you remember what Mito-sama said about how to survive being a Jinchuuriki?"

Minato nodded mutely.

"That the only way is to fill the vessel with love. The same thing applies to Rena, she's the vessel of light, but she can't do what needs to be done because there's too much darkness built up inside of her. She's lost her sense of purpose and she's very confused about everything that's going on. You have to be the light in the darkness Minato, because nobody else can. I'm so glad you were a part of my life and I love you so much, but my purpose was to bring Naruto into this world, and because the dark prophecy won, I wasn't able to see him grow up and there's a possibility that I won't be able to be a part of the future, so you have to move on."

She paused for a second, the look she gave Minato was penetrating.

"I'm going to be so pissed if you spend the rest of your life moping around. We don't know how things will turn out in the end, and while there may be the possibility of me returning to you, you have to be prepared in the event that I cannot."

Minato sighed and then nodded. The look in his eyes was one of incredible loss and sorrow, but there was also understanding and joy at being able to see her, even if it was going to be for the last time.

She smiled at him, a huge beaming smile. "Now I don't want you slipping back into this melancholy you've been in and if you continue this drinking habit of yours I'm going to tell Rena to give you as much hell as she possibly can."

"You've spoken with Rena?" Jiraiya asked.

Kushina turned her blue-green eyes to him, "Of course, if Minato is going to be with anyone but me, I'm certainly going to make sure it's not some idiot or floosy. I like that girl. You can't believe how adamantly she protested when the prophecy told her what was going on, it was a much more intense argument than yours Minato. She brought up how Kakashi would feel about it, and how Naruto would feel about it once he eventually found out who you were, but ultimately he told her it doesn't matter because they'll accept it and to stop worrying so much. And then I had a talk with her. She's very nearly as smart as you are, and she has a good heart, which was why she couldn't even entertain the idea concerning you because she knew about me and what we were to each other."

Kushina paused and raised her head as though she was listening to something.

"My time is almost up, sorry for rambling so much. I miss you both and you have my blessing Minato, I hope this makes things easier." She said, tears welling her eyes.

Minato's own tears were now falling as he moved to embrace his wife once more before she was gone. The hug lingered, she squeezed him tight, jabbing a finger into his side where she knew he was ticklish. She emitted a giggle, then she was gone.

~*~

Cause nothing moves in the warm air  
And words that once would cut like a knife  
They just hang in the clouds and you're pushed by the lord  
But you're pulled by the crowds and  
You're overboard, you're overboard  
Oh my god, she's overboard.  
My love she's overboard  
She's overboard  
My love she's overboard

~*~

Rena sat in the Hokage's office, still in her dress, but she had undone her hair and let it hang freely around her face.

In front of her, behind her desk, sat Tsunade. She had just spent the last forty-five minutes listening to Rena regale her with the bomb that the prophecy had dropped on her and the conversation she'd had with Uzumaki Kushina. She then promptly broke out the sake she saved for special occasions. This whole thing was just getting so crazy, she could barely even keep up. That radical turns everything was taking was having a negative effect on her blood pressure.

Silently she poured them both a drink and watched as the girl knocked it back.

"It would appear that you don't have any choice." She said solemnly.

Rena sighed gruffly. "I don't have a choice in anything. None of us do."

Tsunade poured another shot. "Then why fight it?"

"It's the principle Tsunade." Rena replied. If they hadn't been alone or if this wasn't a personal call, she would have added on the honorific, but Rena had become quite close with the older woman so she left it off as a form of friendship. Tsunade herself had requested it of Rena.

"I mean, what's supposed to come out of it that can't be done through friendship? What could possibly come out of me being in some sort of romantic relationship with Minato-sensei? How am I even supposed to initiate that?"

"Well first of all, I would stop calling him sensei. If you're going to date him, it'll have to be as equals. Some men liked to be called sensei, if you know what I mean, but he doesn't strike me as the type."

Maybe it was the sake, but Rena chuckled lightly at that. She knew Tsunade was trying to lift the mood and she was grateful. Everything was such a mess and nothing made sense anymore. Before, things had been so simple, she knew who she loved, who she was fighting for and what the future looked like. But now…her feelings concerning Sasuke were a mystery, she was fighting for a prophecy that still gave her a headache to think about and the future was a closed book. Not even Ka or prophecy or whatever the hell he was knew what would happen in the end. She thought she had burgeoning feelings for Kakashi, but that turned out to be dead wrong. At the thought of the turn for the worse her relationship with Kakashi had taken, she sent a thought out to Ka.

"Was it you?"

"That's a very broad question Jin." He replied after a moment, in that dry voice of his.

"My relationship with Kakashi and how it ended, was it you?"

"Naturally."

And with that, his presence diminished and he was gone. Rena grit her teeth, she really hated it when he did that.

She made a point to apologize to Kakashi when she saw him next, now realizing none of it had been his doing, it had all been the damn prophecy's fault.

"Did you get into some sort of argument with Minato?" Tsunade asked, pouring more sake.

"Hmm? No, what gives you that idea?" Rena responded.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, he disappeared. He said he needed to get some air and he didn't come back."

Tsunade's expression turned pensive. It wasn't like Minato to just abandon somebody like that without a reason why. The man was the absolute soul of courtesy.

"You think he was told about this too?"

"I'm almost positive. He looked dreadfully uncomfortable and a little bit queasy for the last hour or so, once the alcohol really started to kick in."

Tsunade didn't say anything, only took a sip of her sake.

Rena swirled the drink around in the glass, she really shouldn't have been drinking so much, but it seemed appropriate since she didn't know how else to deal with the cataclysm her life had become.

A sharp rap at the door broke the silence, and Tsunade voiced for whoever it was to enter.

The door opened to reveal Jiraiya, and right behind him, Minato. Speak of the devil.

Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a long look after Minato closed the door, signifying that both knew what was going on, and how heavy it was weighing on each of their subordinate's shoulders.

Rena and Minato glanced at each other and then avoided each other's gaze, both of their faces just a bit uncomfortable.

Jiraiya coughed awkwardly, "Well I suppose it's all out in the open, so there's no point in beating around the bush. What do you two propose to do about this?"

He then made a beeline for the sake, but Tsunade snatched it away before he get his hands on it.

"This is for us ladies only." She said harshly.

Jiraiya gave her a pleading look, but she ignored him and set the bottle close to her, keeping her hand on it.

Rena then gulped down the sake in her own glass and gestured for more.

"I didn't know you drank Rena." Jiraiya said, surprised.

"I don't." She said, "But I think I have a very good reason for doing so tonight, wouldn't you?"

"I'd say. That is a very nice dress by the way." Jiraiya retorted appreciatively, his eyes shifting down to admire the great cleavage the dress provided, not even bothering to hide it.

Rena's eyes became flinty and she threw him a glare that warned if he didn't station his eyes elsewhere he'd lose them.

Jiraiya got the message loud and clear, and turned to see Minato glaring at him as well.

"What?" He asked, his expression innocent.

"You know what." Minato replied, his voice hard. There had been an involuntary flare of jealousy in his stomach when his teacher openly ogled at Rena, but he repressed it, choosing to hide behind a different point. "She's eighteen Jiraiya. What are you, sixty?"

"I'm fifty-four thank you very much. And just because I'm fifty-four doesn't mean I can't appreciate the female form in its most radiant stage." He replied.

"Well would you mind appreciating someone else? Do it again and all the might of Konoha won't be enough to protect you." Rena snapped.

"Well well Tsunade, looks like this one is perfectly capable of holding her own."

"You're a dreadful man Jiraiya." Tsunade responded.

"One does one's best. At any rate Rena, what do you think of this whole ordeal?"

"I think there's no alternative. No matter what we do or how much we try to avoid it, he'll make sure it happens. He's the spirit of the prophecy, and he's as old as time, so he's very good at manipulating events and emotions without anyone realizing it. I'm sorry Minato, but it appears you're stuck with me." She said, throwing the former Hokage a sympathetic look.

~*~

There's not a shell unbroken  
In the valley where my heartache and the timbers lay  
It's not the time to be hanging around here  
You know what some might say

That people get too reckless  
That even with the simplest of crimes  
They leave blood behind  
As I clean the knife for the very last time  
I think she knows, I think she knows  
Oh my god I think she knows  
I think she knows


End file.
